Another Chance at Forever
by Schaarli
Summary: Two years after losing her part-Time Lord husband and daughter in a fatal car crash, Rose Tyler is forced to take a vacation from her job at Torchwood. Her young TARDIS plays travel agent and recommends she visit Manchester where she runs into (literally) a familiar face from her past. Is this another chance at forever for Rose and the love of her life?
1. Chapter 1

It was supposed to be a happily ever after. When the TARDIS disappeared off that beach in Norway, their forever together started then. They had expected a long and happy life together. Happy, it was; long, it was not. Sure, they had their rough patches like any couple. And in the beginning, it was especially hard as the half-Time Lord adjusted to life with one heart and mostly human biology, not to mention life in a strange universe with no TARDIS to escape the domestics. But with the love of his now significantly shorter life by his side, both adjusted to life on the slow path. They loved each other fiercely. And when their daughter was born three years later, their love grew to include their newest family member.

It wasn't supposed to end the way it did. It was supposed to end in their bed together, with gray hair and wrinkles and evidence of a life well lived, with their children and grandchildren by their side. It wasn't supposed to end after only 7 years since that day at Bad Wolf Bay. I wasn't supposed to end inside the family's car on a wet road with blinding headlights as their last memory of life together.

Rose was no stranger to loss and it seemed this universe was just as determined as her last universe to separate her from the love of her life, to tease her with happiness only to rip it away and leave behind a gaping hole that could never be healed or whole again.

Rose couldn't remember that first month without them. She supposed there was a funeral. She imagined there were visitors and casseroles and I-am-so-sorry-for-your-loss-es, but she couldn't remember any of it. And she was glad for that. It's easier to survive the grief when you can't remember it, she'd decided.

All Rose could remember was waking up a month and a day after the accident and walking into Torchwood as if none of it had happened. And by none of it, she didn't just pretend that the accident hadn't happened. She pretended like the last 7 years hadn't happened. The Director, who was also her parallel universe father, had hesitated in allowing Rose to return so soon and without a full psych evaluation, but he simply couldn't tell her no. What kind of father would he be if he said no to his daughter?!

And so, for two years, Rose threw herself into her work - not the work she was doing before the accident. She had moved to a desk job after her daughter was born, training agents and coordinating missions from headquarters. No, she couldn't return to that life where her husband and little girl were safe at home at the end of the day. Instead, she returned to the work she did before the stars went out. She rejoined the field team, took the dangerous missions, and put herself on the front lines each and every time as commander of the elite team of Torchwood agents that protected the Earth from alien threats. And when she wasn't working, she was in the training gym.

Physically, her body was stronger and leaner than it had ever been. But she didn't care about how much weight she could bench press or how quickly she could knock out an opponent in a sparring match. She just wanted to exhaust herself enough so that she could sleep at night and avoid the nightmares – the headlights, the screeching wheels, and the silence. When she arrived home late in the evenings, she bypassed the living room full of happy memories and went straight to the guest room where she slept deeply until it was time to get up and do it all again the next day.

Weekends were tough. Eventually her mum stopped trying to drag her out of the house for shopping or spa visits. Who needs to shop when you wear the same black field uniform every day? Instead, she reluctantly agreed to Sunday evening dinners at the mansion, just to get her mum off her back.

Her little brother, Tony, was the only bright spot to her days. His face lit up when she walked in the front door on Sundays. He would immediately drag her off to check out his latest experiment. He was so much like their father - inquisitive and energetic. And sometimes his boundless enthusiasm reminded her of the Doctor, which always brought a smile to her face. Rose had no doubt that his "daft schemes" would one day be just as successful as his dad's. And on rare occasions, Rose would babysit Tony or be called in to pick him up from school when the nanny was unavailable. With Tony, Rose could almost forget about the two precious loves missing from her life. But the reality of it all came crashing back as soon as Tony said goodbye, with a hug and a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

Rose caressed her cheek as she walked into work that Monday morning, remembering Tony's laughter from the night before, as she made her way passed the security checkpoint at Torchwood HQ.

"Commander Tyler?" Rose heard as she neared the lift. Rose turned her head to see her father's assistant hurrying to catch up. Ianto Jones was an attractive young man, with a soul behind his eyes decades older than his face. As always, he was dressed impeccably in a suit and tie. He was her father's right hand and his coffee was the best in the universe (and Rose would know).

"Good morning, Ianto. And please, you know you can call me Rose" she answered with a small smile.

"Yes, of course, Rose. I just didn't want to damage your tough reputation in front of that group of new recruits down the hall" He tilted his head towards a group of nervous looking young newbies obediently following Debbie from HR on their first day tour of Torchwood HQ.

After glancing back at the group, Rose let out a brief sigh. "They look so young, Yan. As if we needed another reminder of our age..."

"Speak for yourself, Rose," Ianto huffed. "I age like fine wine. I get better every year. And I know you'll disagree, but I can say the same about you."

The lift dinged and they both stepped inside with two Torchwood scientists in white lab coats. Ianto spoke up as the lift began to move. "Commander Tyler, the Director wants to speak with you first thing this morning. He's in his office waiting for you."

Rose's jaw tightened slightly at his words. As much as she loved her dad, she tried to avoid interactions with Pete Tyler as her boss. Oh, he was a great boss, but he also had the authority to force her to work on projects with departments that she wanted nothing to do with, like R&D. There were too many memories that she wanted to avoid being reminded of in various corners of the building, especially that one. Rose nodded her head at Ianto in acknowledgement.

A few moments later, Rose walked into the Director's office, prepared to make excuses about reports and training that needed to take priority over whatever he was going to ask her to do.

Pete looked up from his desk and his face lit up at the sight of his daughter. "Good morning, Sweetheart." He walked over to her to grasp her shoulders and kiss her cheek.

"Hi, Dad," Rose responded with a soft smile. "Ianto said you wanted to see me. I've got a pile of reports to review and new agent training to prep for..."

"Don't worry, Rose," Pete interrupted. He motioned to a small sitting area off to the side of his office. "This won't take long. Have a seat and I'll buzz Ianto for a cup of coffee". Before he could even finish his sentence, the office door opened with Ianto carrying two cups of coffee, just the way they liked them.

Rose grinned in amusement at Pete's surprised look. He still wasn't used to Ianto's superhuman powers of anticipating his needs. If Pete didn't know any better, he would think Ianto was an alien who could read minds or see the future. But no, he was just really _really_ good at his job.

Pete settled down in an armchair near Rose and got straight to the point. "Rose, when was the last time you took a vacation?"

Rose's brow furrowed in confusion. "Vacation?" Rose was unsure where this was heading, but dreading it.

"Yes, you know. Time off and trip outside these walls and outside your flat? I reviewed your records from HR and you've been working six, sometimes seven days a week since..." Pete stopped and corrected himself "...for the last two years. It's time you took some time off to get out of London and have some time for yourself."

Time to herself? That was the last thing she wanted. Pete, her father, knew that. Rose couldn't go traveling and exploring. Not without the half-Gallifreyan who made travel an exciting adventure no matter where they landed. Rose sighed heavily and tried to remind him of this "Dad, you know I can't do that...I just can't..." The words got stuck in her throat.

But Pete, her boss, had higher authorities to answer too. "Listen, Rose, you can't keep working like this. You'll burn out soon and I can't have my best agent in the field not be in the best shape psychologically and physically. You have to take time off and if you won't do it for your dad who loves you and worries about you, then as your boss, I'll have to force you to take some time off. I've already had to make excuses to HR and it's only a matter of time before the Board gets on my case about it."

After years of alien negotiations, Rose recognized when her argument was lost. But she had to try one last time "But I've got reports and a whole new class of agents to start training. I can't take a vacation now. How about in a couple of months? I promise I'll take vacation then." She argued with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Your reports can wait and Jake has already agreed to train the new agents. Consider today your last day for at least the next two weeks." Pete said resolutely.

Rose took a long drink from her coffee and resigned herself to this turn of events. If she was grateful for anything, it was for this cup of liquid warmth that helped her escape reality, if only for the 2 seconds it took to swallow it down. She stood up from the sofa and walked dejectedly toward the door. As she reached for the door handle, Pete called out to her and she turned to face him.

"And Rose, when you decide where you are going, I know your mum would appreciate a call to know where you'll be since you won't be home for Sunday dinners for a while."

"Sure, Dad... I'll call her."

"Thank you, Rose. Have a nice trip." He added with a gentle smile. Pete's expression revealed that he knew how hard these next few weeks would be for her, but his eyes held hope that perhaps she would rediscover some of the joy for life that died two years ago with her husband and daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose walked past Ianto at his desk and muttered her thanks for the coffee. She entered the lift and rode it down a couple of floors to her office. Jake Simmonds, her closest friend and fellow commander at Torchwood, was just arriving to begin his work day. Jake and Rose had been friends since her first day in this universe. He had been Mickey's friend too and they had been through their fair share of dangerous alien encounters together. Rose trusted Jake and valued his friendship.

"Morning, Rose" Jake greeted. "Pete tells me you're finally taking a vacation. Where to?"

"I don't know yet. I only just found out this morning." Rose explained with a sigh of resignation.

"I see," Jake nodded in understanding. "So this is more of a forced vacation, huh? Well..." Jake continued as he followed Rose into her office and sat down across the desk from her. "Might as well make the most of it, I suppose. I'm sure there are loads of places you'd like to visit - Paris, Madrid, Barcelona..." Jake stopped talking when Rose inhaled a sharp breath at the mention of Barcelona. In the years they had known each other, Jake knew that he'd said something to remind her of him - either the Time Lord Doctor or her husband the half-Time Lord. Jake instantly opened his mouth to apologize, but Rose waved her hand and smiled a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I guess I'll start thinking about that once I get things organized so that I can leave town without feeling like I've left you with a mess to clean up after me." Rose replied. The conversation shifted to work topics, which Rose was grateful for.

The rest of the day passed quickly. Just as she was about to shut off her computer, Maxwell Alter, another agent, stuck his head into Rose's office.

"Hey, Rose," he said cheerily. "I heard you're taking a vacation! Good for you!"

Rose glanced up at Max with a small grin, bordering on a grimace. She liked Max well enough but there was always something about him that set off warning bells in her head. She had heard rumors from Jake and Mickey that he was interested in dating Rose when she first arrived in Pete's World, but he never made a move or if he did, Rose didn't notice as she was too busy trying to find a way back to the Doctor. When John arrived, he seemed to keep his distance, even more so after they got married and Rose got pregnant with Samantha. But since their deaths, Max had an uncanny ability to be included in missions with Rose, despite not being the best agent even after all these years of training and experience.

"Hi, Max," Rose replied with as little enthusiasm as possible. "Yep, bit of a forced vacation. I'll be back in a few weeks."

"Oh, well, where are you going?" Max asked with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"Don't know yet." Rose said shortly.

"Um… okay, well, have a good trip," Max said, sounding a bit deflated.

As she walked out of her office, Rose opted to head home instead of going to the training gym like she usually did. It hadn't been a hard day physically, but mentally she was exhausted. It was hard to keep her anxiety about this forced vacation in check while still getting her work done. Besides, she needed to commiserate with her only remaining family member who understood her pain better than anyone else.

Rose walked through the doors of her flat and right down the stairs to the basement where the young TARDIS sat in the quiet darkness. The humming in Rose's mind grew brighter as she approached and the doors opened welcoming Rose inside.

"Hello, Beautiful!" Rose announced to the TARDIS as she walked up to the console and caressed the coral. The TARDIS was just a few weeks shy of being ready to travel through time and space when the accident changed everything. The one man on this Earth (or even this universe) that could pilot her was gone and now she sat alone in the basement.

"Well, girl, looks like I get to take a vacation for the next few weeks." Rose sighed. "Dad thinks I should get out of London for a bit. I'm terrified of the idea and I hate to leave you alone all that time." Rose admitted. The TARDIS hummed comfortingly, sending Rose a wave of reassurance.

"Thanks for that." Rose responded. "If only I could hide out in here for the next few weeks. But, I'm sure Tony is going to expect postcards and souvenirs, so unless you can handle that for me..." The TARDIS hummed in disappointment in response.

"It's alright. I suppose I should have expected this eventually. Now, how do I pick a vacation destination that is so boring and uneventful that the Doctor would have never suggested we go there?" Rose asked the sentient ship. The TARDIS dinged in response and with a quick glance at the jump seat, Rose noticed a large duffel bag with some colorful brochures stacked on top that hadn't been there before. Rose walked slowly over to see what destination the TARDIS had in mind.

"Manchester?" Rose questioned. "Why in the world would I go to Manchester?!" The TARDIS giggled at Rose's reaction. "Well, I suppose you're right. I'm not sure we would have ever gone to Manchester with the Doctor." Rose opened the bag to find it already full with all the clothes and necessities she would need for a trip to Manchester - warm clothes, rain gear, etc. Rose also noticed a train ticket for tomorrow afternoon and a reservation at a hotel with a check in time for tomorrow night, but no checkout date. "Thanks. Guess I can add travel agent to your long list of incredible skills." Rose smiled as the TARDIS hummed happily. Rose picked up the bag and brochures and headed upstairs after one last glance at the beautiful ship and another word of thanks for her help.

Rose fell asleep an hour later. Ready or not, her vacation began tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

With no work to rush off to the next morning, Rose stayed in bed with the pillow over her head for as long as she could tolerate the silence and the thoughts running through her head. She walked into the kitchen to start the coffee pot when a familiar knock sounded at her front door.

"Rose!" yelled Tony when she opened the door. "Mum says you're going on vacation today! Are you taking the TARDIS? Can I come?!" Tony flew into the flat with his mouth running a mile a minute.

"Tony Tyler! Stop prattling on about that space ship. You know you're not allowed in there!" Rose's mother, Jackie followed Tony into the entryway. She turned to Rose and greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. "Hello, Sweetheart. Pete told me about your vacation, so I thought I'd come help you pack." Jackie explained.

Rose rolled her eyes as she shut the front door behind her mum. "Thanks, Mum. But I'm already packed." She pointed to the duffel bag near the door.

"Oh, wonderful!" Jackie announced. She picked up the bag and started rifling through it. She stopped and observed "Rose, you forgot to pack a bathing suit. Don't tell me you're not heading to somewhere tropical?!"

"No, Mum" Rose replied. "No beaches and sunny weather where I'm going."

Jackie resumed her search through Rose's bag. Just like the TARDIS, the bag was bigger on the inside, so it held a surprising amount of things. "Well, I don't see any ski clothes either, so you're obviously not going anywhere in the mountains."

"No, Mum, I'm not going skiing. I'm going to Manchester."

"Manchester!" Her mother groaned. "Why in the world would you want to go there?!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Rose picked up one of the brochures and read the tag line from the front "Manchester is the city that delivers surprise and delight in equal measures."

It was Jackie's turn to snort and roll her eyes. "Whoever gave you the idea that Manchester is a vacation destination? I don't know who your travel agent is but she really needs to do better than Manchester." Jackie pulled out her phone and began scrolling through her contacts. "I'll just call our travel agent and get this whole mess sorted."

Rose took the phone from Jackie and tossed it back into her oversized purse. "Mum, I don't need your travel agent to sort anything. The TARDIS told me to go to Manchester, so that's where I'm going." Rose explained.

"The TARDIS is your travel agent?!" Jackie exclaimed. "The TARDIS has never been outside that basement; how would it know where the best vacation spots are?!"

Rose bit back her angry retort. She knew her mother's reminder that her TARDIS-flying husband wasn't here anymore was unintentional.

"Mum," Rose spoke softly while staring down at the floor. "The TARDIS... The Doctor's TARDIS, may not have always taken us where we wanted to go, but she always took us where we needed to go. I don't know why she picked Manchester, but if that's where she says I need to go, then that's where I'm going."

Jackie sighed in resignation. She knew she wouldn't be able to compete with that flying box that would never fly.

"Can I go to Manchester with Rose?" Tony asked, reminding the ladies of his presence. "They have an amazing football team. I'd love to see them play. Are you going to a game, Rose?"

"Sorry, Tony" Rose answered. "You can't come with me this time. But I promise that I'll take you next time and we'll go see a footie match, yeah?"

Tony was satisfied with that answer and began kicking an imaginary football around the living room. Jackie convinced Rose to grab some lunch with them before heading to the train station.

The train to Manchester was quick and relatively empty, so Rose was able to enjoy the trip without having to make small talk with anyone who might recognize her as the Vitex-heiress. When she arrived in Manchester, the cloudy sky obscured the setting sun and the city was soon shrouded in darkness. It wasn't raining, but it had obviously rained earlier in the day, judging by the puddles along the road. Rose walked the short distance to her hotel and checked in for the night. After ordering room service and eating a cold sandwich for dinner, she settled in bed and waited for sleep to bring the day to a merciful end. She knew she'd get an early start in the morning, whether she wanted to or not.


	4. Chapter 4

Just as she expected, Rose's mind woke up early the next morning. She forced herself to stay in bed under the covers until she could be sure the coffee shops would be open. She showered, dressed and walked out of the hotel, deciding to walk one direction and hope a coffee shop was nearby. The sky was gray and Rose imagined it would rain again today and probably soon. Rose didn't mind the melancholy weather; it complimented her mood nicely.

A few minutes later, a large coffee with a double shot of espresso in hand, Rose found a small pocket park surrounded mostly by quaint rows of homes. The only other people out at this early hour were the runners out for an early jog before the motor and pedestrian traffic made for unwelcomed obstacles. Rose sat down on a bench and dug out the tourism brochures, hoping to find something that might interest her for a few hours today. She picked a brochure about parks and gardens in and around Manchester. She smirked at the bright sunny day captured in the cover photo, wondering if Manchester could ever look so bright and cheerful or if the photographer was really good at Photoshop.

As Rose opened the brochure, a large drop of rain landed on the photo of a famous statue. Rose gazed at the sky and was startled at how much darker it had grown in just those few minutes since she left the hotel. She wondered whether the TARDIS had packed any Wellies for her when another large rain drop landed on her nose and splattered in her eyes.

The rain drops began to fall faster and Rose decided to move her coffee time indoors, quickly stuffing her brochures haphazardly into her shoulder bag. The sky opened and she stood quickly, without noticing the tall, muscular wall running at full speed in her direction. Before she could register what was going on, she was thrown to the ground, the wind knocked out of her as she reached her arms behind herself instinctively. Her pelvis and low back hit the soft ground with a thud.

A strong, calloused hand appeared in her peripheral vision and she reached out to accept the help. As soon as her skin touched the offered hand, lightning struck nearby and a jolt of electricity ran up her arm and into her body, squeezing out whatever breath was left in her lungs. Her ears rung with the crack of thunder that followed and she barely made out a deep Northern voice that yelled "Run!"

Before she could recover her balance or her breath, Rose was being dragged by her hand out of the park and down one of the residential streets. Another few strides and the runner dropped her hand to unlock and open a TARDIS-blue door to one of the houses and then pulled her inside.

Once in the protection of the home's entryway, Rose bent forward, hands on her knees gasping for breath. The burning in her lungs began to subside and she stood up to finally get a look at the man who had pulled her out of the dangerous storm that now raged outside. Her eyes found his and her breathing stopped altogether. Staring back at her were the same deep, soulful blue eyes of the Time Lord she fell in love with over a decade ago. Rose's head felt dizzy and her vision went black as the world faded to darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

As Rose regained awareness, her brain registered that she was lying on a cold tile floor. Strong, rough hands alternated between caressing her cheeks and smoothing her hair. The ringing in her ears faded and she heard the familiar Northern voice repeating, "Hello? Are you alright?" The memories of the last couple of minutes returned and Rose wondered if those gorgeous blue eyes would still be there when she opened hers.

Rose blinked her eyes open and her question was answered instantly. She hadn't dreamed it; the eyes of her greatest love looked back at her, filled with concern and relief that she was awake again. "Hello," he said cheerfully with a silly grin as he raised his hand to wiggle his fingers at her in greeting.

Rose's heart fluttered and she smiled back at him and responded "hi" weakly. She moved to sit up and the familiar hands helped her up - one on her hand and another on her low back. "Careful, there," he nearly whispered, as if she was an animal he didn't want to spook. "Take it easy. Let's get you over to a chair before you try walking on your own again." He continued talking as he ushered Rose to a chair and handed her the glass of water he must have retrieved from the kitchen while she was passed out on the floor. Rose glanced back to the front door and noticed his hoodie bunched up on the spot where her head was just resting.

"Sorry about all that a moment ago. I'm sure I must of knocked the wind out of you when I knocked you over and then dragging you at a full run back to my flat only made matters worse," he apologized.

"It's alright," Rose managed to get out. "No harm done."

"The least I can do is fix us both a nice cuppa," he offered. "What sort of gentleman would I be if I let you leave in this storm?" As if on cue, thunder rumbled through the house as Rose looked out the nearest window at the storm outside.

He disappeared into the kitchen and Rose took the moments of his absence to assess the situation she now found herself in. With Torchwood-trained precision, Rose took inventory of herself and her surroundings. Her body appeared unharmed, other than the bruising that was beginning to form on her backside from her tumble in the park. Her respiration and heart rate had returned to normal. She felt a bit nauseous but imagined it had something to do with not having eaten anything and the brief loss of consciousness.

The flat she was in was spartanly decorated with simple furniture and minimal artwork. A nook off the living room was the only area that appeared personal and lived in. It was filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves bursting with books, with overflow books piled around on the floor. A short hall led to a bedroom, possibly two, and at least one bathroom. Rose noticed that the flat was devoid of any photographs, so she imagined that either he lived here alone or had only just moved in.

And what about this man? His physical appearance was identical to her first doctor, from what she could tell so far. But there were no Time Lords in this universe; her husband had assured her of this. Was this man even a Time Lord or was he just another example of spatial genetic multiplicity, which the Doctor had used to explain the resemblance between 19th century Gwyneth and Torchwood's Gwen Cooper back in the prime universe. Was he from the prime universe? He didn't seem to recognize Rose, so could this be a parallel Doctor who somehow ended up in Pete's World? Was he using some sort of chameleon arch, like the one the Doctor had told her about during his travels with Martha Jones? Rose's head swam at the possibilities when the man in question returned with two cups of tea.

Rose took the cup and winced slightly as the steam hit her nostrils. Rose hadn't had a cup of tea since the day of the accident. Too many memories resurfaced around a mug of tea and she just couldn't bear to drink them after that. No one could make a cuppa the way her husband could, even her mum. But now, whether it was the presence of this familiar stranger or the empty stomach now making itself known, Rose drank the tea enthusiastically, closing her eyes as she was assaulted with flash after flash of memories of a life that seemed so distant. When she opened her eyes, the mystery man smiled hesitantly at her and she returned it with a hesitant smile of her own.

A flash of lightning outside shook both of them out of their thoughts and the man reached a hand out to Rose. "I'm Jason. Doctor Jason Tempest."

"I'm Rose. Rose Tyler," she answered, shaking his hand in greeting. Once again she felt an electric shock at the contact of their skin and wondered if he felt it too.

"Rose Tyler," Jason repeated slowly. "Rose ….Tyler …" The words rolled off his tongue in that achingly familiar way she had nearly forgotten about. Jason stood up and began pacing the room while running his hand through his cropped hair. "You seem so familiar. Have we met before?" He continued to pace, mumbling quietly to himself.

Rose's breath hitched. Was this it? Was this the moment her questions about Jason's identity would be answered? Rose couldn't suppress her giggle as she watched him. Oh, how she missed his pacing and rambling.

Jason looked at her when she giggled. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," Rose replied, still grinning. She quickly recovered with "You just don't seem like the type to read the tabloids."

"Oi!" Jason exclaimed. "I don't read those rags!" He slowed his pace and glanced away, only to look back at her quickly, realizing what she had just said. "Why would you be in the tabs? Are you famous?" Rose could see the wheels in his brain continue to spin as he tried to solve the Great Rose Tyler Mystery.

"Ever hear of Peter Tyler, Founder and CEO of Vitex?" Rose asked, glancing down at the business section of the paper that happened to be out on his coffee table. Sure enough, there was a cover story about recent acquisitions by Vitex.

"You mean that _enhanced_ beverage? Never touch the stuff. Prefer plain water and natural vitamin sources, me." He explained. "So, either you're his daughter or his trophy wife…" he nodded in the direction of her wedding rings. She still wore the rings, never taking them off and often fiddling with them when she was nervous, like she was doing now.

Rose glared at Jason, but decided not to respond to the trophy wife accusation. Yep, he was still rude and not ginger. "Yes, Pete is my father," she answered. Her eyes took on a hazy, distant quality and she continued. "And I'm widowed." She'd never admitted that out loud before. There was something about Jason's presence that comforted her enough to be able to verbalize the word she had grown to despise these last two years.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Jason sympathized. "I lost my wife in the war with the Cybermen."

"My husband, John, and my daughter were killed in a car crash two years ago," Rose explained, continuing to stare at nothing, as if she were on auto-pilot.

The silence between them stretched out for a few minutes before Jason shook his head to clear it and offered to refill their empty tea mugs. When he returned with full mugs, he offered, "If it were a little later in the day, I'd offer you something stronger. But, how about some breakfast instead? This storm doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon, so we might as well eat something to pass the time."

"Thanks. I could do with some breakfast." As if on cue, Rose and Jason's stomachs both gurgled emptily. They both smiled and moved to the kitchen to work in tandem. When they were finished, they'd made a proper fry-up for breakfast, which seemed fitting for a cold stormy morning like this one.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose and Jason ate their breakfast in relative silence around his small kitchen table. Just as they were finishing up and clearing the table, Jason broke the silence.

"So, I take it you must be in Manchester for vacation?" She wondered how he knew that, when he glanced over to the entry table at the pile of soggy tourism brochures hanging out of Rose's bag.

"Yeah, you could say that." Rose answered. "I guess I'm a bit of a workaholic and I was asked to take some time off before the Board of Directors forced me to do it."

"I see." He looked surprised and Rose looked at him quizzically. "Huh. I guess I expected you to be some fancy heiress who lived off Daddy's money. So I take it you work for Vitex?"

"Actually, I work for Torchwood."

"Oh! Really? And what do you do for Torchwood?"

"I'm a field agent. My team and I are the first to respond in all extraterrestrial matters."

Jason's gaze shifted to something of respect and awe. "I'm impressed, Rose Tyler. You're obviously tougher than you look."

 _You have no idea_ , Rose thought to herself. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm pretty tough too. Don't let this daft old face fool you."

"You think you're so impressive," Rose answered, holding her breath to see how he would respond.

"I AM so impressive!" he responded and Rose felt a warmth fill her heart that she hadn't felt in a long time. "I'll have you know that I'm a brilliant professor at the University of Manchester."

"A professor? What do you teach?" Rose's husband had often considered becoming a university professor. He could have taught practically any subject he wanted to, but Torchwood kept them so busy that he never had the chance to pursue it.

"Teach a little bit of everything, me. I don't like to stay on one subject for too long or it gets boring, even for me. I can teach physics, advanced mathematics, astronomy, linguistics, history, anthropology, and even a little medicine, just to name a few…" he boasted.

"Just to name a few? What, no art or music?" Rose couldn't help but smile at his self-stroking ego.

"I've got to leave something for those other stuffy academics to teach," he laughed, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in his trademark stance.

Jason and Rose studied each other for a moment, clearly sizing each other up and deciding where they wanted to take this new relationship, if you could call it that.

"So, what made you choose to visit Manchester, then? It's not usually high on the tourism list unless you're a footie fan or history buff interested in the industrial revolution."

"A close friend recommended Manchester. I was looking to go somewhere I've never been before," Rose explained. "I guess you could say that I wanted to find a place where I wasn't haunted by memories."

"Then you've come to right place!" Jason exclaimed and clapped his hands once as if he just had a great idea. "Manchester may have a few ghosts haunting the place, but not nearly as many as I hear Cardiff has," he joked and winked at her. Rose was glad she wasn't taking a drink or she would have choked on it. "What would you like to see while you're here? I'm also an impressive tour guide." He grinned goofily at her.

"I know you are." Rose muttered under her breath. "I'd love to have a tour guide. I don't think my soggy brochures will be of any use any more."

Rose and Jason spent the rest of their morning making plans for what to see and when the rain finally let up by mid-day, they headed out arm in arm in search of adventure.


	7. Chapter 7

The day Rose and Jason spent together became an impromptu walking tour of Manchester. Jason rambled on about the history and little known facts about the region and Rose couldn't help but grin the whole time. Periodically, Jason would stop to take a breath and apologize for his rambling, but Rose simply beamed at him, encouraging him to continue. By the end of the day, she knew she may not remember half of what he said, but she'll remember the happiness she felt just listening to him talk.

As the day wore on into evening, the discussion shifted. Neither seemed interested in separating, so they agreed to have dinner together.

"How about chips? There's a great place just a few blocks from here," Jason pointed over his shoulder in the direction of the chippy.

"Chips sound perfect." Rose couldn't believe her luck. She'd found her first love's doppelganger and they were about to have the same first date at a chippy.

As they rounded the corner, the scent of chips wafted through the air. Jason stopped suddenly, patting his pockets. He looked up and frowned at Rose.

"Let me guess…you forgot your wallet?"

Jason blushed and apologized. "Guess I forgot to grab it when we left my place earlier."

"It's alright; I'll pay for us both and you can pay next time." Rose offered.

"As long as you promise there will be a next time." Jason flirted.

"I think that can be arranged." Rose teased.

They ordered their chips and found a booth near the back that offered some protection from prying eyes. Rose hadn't seen any paparazzi that day, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she was recognized.

"So, how are my tour guide skills? Did they meet with your satisfaction?" Jason teased her.

"Not bad," she said and then gave him her signature tongue-touched grin. "But, you could have been telling me a load of crap and I wouldn't have known the difference."

"Don't make stuff up, me." He feigned being insulted. "Besides, you're too clever. I could never lie to you without you figuring me out." They laughed and sat quietly until their food arrived.

After a few bites, Jason looked at Rose. "I hope you know that I don't normally knock down women and drag them back to my flat. I'm sorry about the way we met this morning; I would never hurt you. But, I'm not sorry that we met." The sincerity in his tone warmed Rose's heart.

"You certainly took my breath away this morning." She laughed, but the double meaning in her words was not missed by either one of them. "Better with two?"

"Yeah" he answered breathily. "Definitely better with two." The tension between them was growing thicker by the second. After what seemed like an eternity, Jason broke her gaze and looked down at their now empty chip containers. "Besides, I only take the best." He chuckled and Rose collapsed in a fit of giggles.

"So, if things are better with two, then what are we two going to do tomorrow? Any other tours you'd like to take me on?" Rose hoped her tone wasn't too eager. She had more fun today than she had had in a very long time and she didn't want it to end any time soon.

"Unfortunately, I'll be at the University most of the day teaching and having office hours." Rose tried to hide the disappointment in her face and she could tell that he was trying to hide his as well. "But… how about we meet up for dinner after that? And this time, I'll pay." Jason suggested with a large grin that stretched from one big ear to the other.

"Sounds like a plan." Rose grinned back.

Rose and Jason finished their drinks and Jason offered her his arm as they walked in the direction of Rose's hotel. Jason ushered Rose into the lobby. They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither one wanting to say goodnight just yet. Rose pulled out her phone and quickly added his number to her contact.

 _Rose: hi_ :)

 _Jason: Hi back_ :)

They giggled like teenagers for a moment.

"Well, I guess I should get going. I've got a couple of lectures to prepare for tomorrow."

"Yeah, I should probably check in with my Mum, make sure she knows I'm alright. She hates when I travel on my own. Thinks I get into trouble…" Rose grinned knowingly.

"Try to avoid any trouble tomorrow while I'm not around. Don't wander off." He teased, knowing that she'd probably spend most of the day wandering.

"Well, I've been told I'm very jeopardy-friendly."

After another pause and awkward silence, Jason finally leaned in to kiss Rose on the cheek and whisper "goodnight". Rose answered with her own soft "goodnight" and he turned and walked out the front door of the hotel. Rose watched him walk away and then headed up to her room, her mind swimming with happiness, curiosity, and hope for the future. Well, maybe not the future, but at least hope for tomorrow. She hadn't felt hope in years and the sensation got her heart pumping.

Rose sent a quick text to her mum to let her know that she arrived safe and sound and would see her in a few weeks. She lay back on the hotel bed and let her mind contemplate the events of today, specifically, Jason. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. Jake's friendly voice greeted her.

"Hi Jake!"

"Hiya Rose! I heard you are in Manchester. Not exactly the most exotic destination, but I guess they can't all be glamorous."

"Yeah, I'm in Manchester. Look, Jake, I've got a favor to ask you. Can you research someone for me? His name is Jason Tempest."

"Jason Tempest? That shouldn't be too hard to research. Not exactly a common name. What's this about, Rose?"

Rose sighed and debated briefly telling Jake more or just waiting until he delivered the research. She decided to trust her friend with what she knew so far. "Remember when John and I told you about Time Lord regeneration and the way he would change his appearance whenever his body was dying?"

"Yeah, I remember. That photo of the broody hunk in your office is what John looked like when you first met, right?

"Yeah, that's him. Well, Jason could be his identical twin. He looks exactly like John looked before he regenerated into, well… John. That is the John you met during the cybermen incident."

"Wow, Rose. Did you meet this guy in Manchester? And is it just his appearance that is similar or do you think he's another Time Lord?"

"Yeah, I met him this morning. He ran into me, actually. Quite literally. Then he offered to take me on a walking tour of Manchester today." Rose went on the talk about other similarities with Jason and the Doctor in his previous regeneration.

"How ironic that you happened to pick Manchester for your vacation…"

"Actually, the TARDIS is the one who suggested Manchester…" her voice trailed off as she wondered about what the TARDIS knew Rose would find here.

Jake filled in where Rose left off. "Do you think the TARDIS sent you to Manchester for a reason?"

"I don't know Jake, but that research into his back story would really help."

"Of course, Rose. I'll get right on this tomorrow and send the results to your tablet."

"Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it."

"No problem, Rose," Jake answered. "And Rose, take care of yourself. I know that this guy looks like John, but that doesn't mean he is him, or even some parallel version of him. Be careful around this guy until we know more, alright?"

"You're right. Thanks, Jake, for always looking out for me."

"We're friends, Rose. You've suffered enough over the years and I don't want to see you hurt again."

Jake and Rose said their goodbyes and when Rose looked down at her phone to end the call, she saw a text from Jason.

 _Jason: I had a wonderful day today, Rose. Thank you for interrupting my morning jog._ ;-) _I hope you sleep well._

Rose had a handful of responses on the tips of her fingers, but decided simple was better. Jake was right, she had to try to stay guarded until she knew more about this familiar stranger.

 _Rose: Thank you for rescuing me from the storm. Good night, Jason._

Rose decided to take a shower and climb into bed, suddenly exhausted after her the events of the day.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose awoke the next morning, although not as early as her body had become accustomed to the last two years. She decided to take her time getting ready. She even took time to put on a little make up and then headed downstairs to enjoy a cuppa with the hotel's free breakfast. Rose picked up a few new brochures from the display near the front desk and wandered back to her room to decide where to explore today.

Rose had always enjoyed art museums and decided to visit some of Manchester's best museums and galleries. She found herself enjoying the art so much that before she knew it, it was early afternoon and her stomach was beginning to rumble. She found a small café and enjoyed a light meal while thumbing through an art book she had purchased at one of the gift shops. John always loved a little shop, she remembered with a gentle smile.

Rose was about to get up from the table when her phone dinged with a text.

 _Jason: I hope you've found something fun to do today._

 _Rose: Just finished exploring some art museums and galleries._

 _Jason: Great! I will finish up soon. Can you meet me in the lobby of your hotel in two hours?_

 _Rose: Yes. Any hint about where we're going to dinner._

 _Jason: All I'll say is: Ci vediamo stasera._

Rose grinned. Italian for dinner. In the words of her beloved, "Molto bene" she thought to herself.

Rose decided to take a cab back to her hotel. She wanted plenty of time to get ready. As she rode the lift up to her room, Rose suddenly panicked. She hoped the TARDIS had thought to pack something appropriate for dinner out. She entered the room and quickly dug into the bag, deciding to lay everything out on the bed to see what her choices were. Inside the bag were three different dresses of varying lengths and fabrics – a black cocktail dress, a flirty red dress with a puffy skirt (great for dancing, she thought), and a floor length TARDIS blue gown. There were three pairs of coordinating heels, and silk and lace underthings that would work for each dress.

Rose smiled at the options before her. The TARDIS never did disappoint when it came to her wardrobe and this trip was no exception. Rose would have to give the console a good massage when she got home. Rose decided to wear the cocktail dress with the matching low heels, perfect for an after dinner stroll. She touched up her makeup and headed downstairs to the lobby. As she exited the lift, she glanced around the room and her eyes immediately met the icey-blue eyes of Jason. He was wearing black slacks, a purple jumper and a black leather jacket. Rose's breath hitched as she took in his appearance. Unlike her first doctor, Jason's leather jacket looked relatively new and fit his proportions so well, it looked more like formalwear than outerwear.

Jason took in Rose's appearance. He stared at her for a moment as she approached him. "Blimey, you look great, Rose."

Rose knew she was blushing, but hoped her makeup kept most of it hidden. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself." She motioned to his attire.

"Shall we?"

Jason offered his arm and they walked out to his waiting car – a TARDIS blue antique roadster. Jason opened the door for Rose and then walked around to the driver's side. The drive to the restaurant was quick. Jason had obviously made reservations, as a table was ready for them when they arrived, and they walked past all the other patrons waiting in the bar. Rose heard familiar mumbling from the waiting crowd. She knew she would be recognized eventually. Hopefully the paparazzi would stay away tonight.

Their candlelit table was in a secluded corner of the restaurant. A long-stemmed red rose sat on her menu, a detail Rose noticed that was only on their table. Next to the small table was a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. Jason pulled out Rose's chair. As Jason was moving to sit in his chair, Rose asked "What are we celebrating?" and pointed over to the bottle of champagne.

"I don't know about you, but I'm celebrating dinner with a beautiful woman," he flirted with a goofy grin on his face. Rose rolled her eyes. "And… I was offered a promotion at the University today. You're looking at the new head of both the departments of physics and history. So, I figured that was also worth celebrating." He beamed at her.

"Congratulations, Dr. Tempest." Rose smiled her signature tongue-in-teeth grin at him.

A waiter approached the table to open their champagne and describe the evening's specials. After pouring their drinks, he left them alone to look at the menu and make their selections. Once their food was ordered, Rose raised her glass and held it out towards Jason. "A toast to Dr. Tempest and his new prestigious positions at the University of Manchester."

"And a toast to the lovely Rose Tyler, my gorgeous dinner companion." They clinked their glasses together and took a drink of their champagne, each finding it hard to hide the smiles on their faces.

The conversation flowed easily through dinner. Rose told Jason about her day exploring art all over the city. Jason talked about his students and today's lectures in history and physics – Medieval Manchester and Hellmann–Feynman theorem.

"Would you care for dessert? Tonight's special is a sweet banana gnocchi drizzled with a chocolate hazelnut ganache and fresh whipped cream."

Jason's eyes widened and Rose wondered if they would fall out of his head. "Bananas! Can't resist bananas, me. Good source of potassium, you know." Jason looked to Rose for approval and she nodded back at his puppy-dog expression. "One serving of tonight's special and two forks, please." Jason was bouncing in his chair and it reminded Rose of Tony on Christmas.

"I take it you like bananas?" Rose grinned at him.

"Love 'em!" Jason replied enthusiastically, complete with ear-to-ear goofy grin.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Jason suggested a stroll through a nearby park to help their stomachs settle. He offered Rose his arm and they sauntered slowly through the neighborhood, Rose holding her single stemmed Rose in her free hand. Jason couldn't resist falling back into tour guide mode, telling Rose the history of the area. The park was quaint, with benches and a small playground. It was late, so no children were out playing. They walked over to the swings and each took a swing for a seat. Jason gestured to a nearby school, "and to conclude this portion of the tour, someone very well-known and brilliant attended that primary school across the way."

"Really? Who?"

"Me!" Jason responded with a goofy grin and she giggled at him. Rose had resisted asking Jason about his childhood, but decided to bring up the subject now that he had mentioned it. Jake should have his research completed soon and if nothing else, Rose could compare Jason's story to Jake's research.

Rose smiled at his goofiness and continued the subject. "So, you grew up near here, then?"

"Yep," Jason popped the p with aching familiarity. "I grew up on a council estate not far from here. Me, me mum, dad and older brother, Braxton. Was a right terror as a kid, me. Surprised I ever made it out of here. Followed my brother into the military as soon as I could sign up; not sure where I would have ended up otherwise." His expression sobered a bit and Rose reached a comforting hand out to squeeze his arm.

"Spent eight years in service of our country. My brother was killed in action and I decided I was ready to get out then and move on with my life. I enrolled at the University of Manchester and finished my degrees in record time and was invited to stay on as a professor. Met my wife, Lynda, there; she was a teaching assistant of mine." He paused briefly to inhale a big breath of air. "Then one day she shows up to work after a few days off and I notice evidence of bruises and scrapes that are partially healed. Didn't take long to get her to fess-up; persistent, me," he smiled triumphantly before continuing. "She'd been beaten by her abusive boyfriend when he found out she was pregnant. He claimed she had cheated on him but the truth was that he was usually too drunk to remember." He growled before we continued.

"I couldn't stand to see her like that. She had been one of the brightest students I'd had and I knew she was destined for great things, but after that, she was a ghost of her former self. It killed me to think that the prat had taken her spirit from her. I wanted help, so I asked her to marry me. Probably was a bit brash, but I knew I could protect her and the baby, and help her rediscover the brilliant mind I knew had in there." He paused again, staring off into nothing before he shook himself and continued.

"We had only been married a couple of months when she was killed in the cybermen attacks. She was seven months pregnant with a little girl. She had just started to return to the spirited, brilliant young woman I had first gotten to know." Rose and Jason sat quietly for a few minutes. Rose felt a tear run down her cheek and wiped it away before breaking the silence.

"I'm so sorry." Rose twined her fingers between his and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks. In all honesty, looking back at it all, we hardly knew each other, but I had hoped that with time, we would grow to love each other. And I wanted to be a father for that little girl." He paused for a long time and Rose wondered if he was finished. She was curious about his parents and asked as much.

"My parents? They died while I was away at war." After another minute in silence, Jason looked over at Rose and managed a small smile. "I guess loss becomes more a part of our lives as we get older. Just a fact of life. Like the turn of the Earth and the births and deaths of stars and planets." Jason gripped Rose's hand tighter, finding comfort in her touch. "What about you? I imagine your life as an heiress has been pretty easy."

Rose shook her head and proceeded to tell Jason her story, at least the public story they had created when she arrived in this universe. It was so much like her own, but just different enough to work with her sudden appearance. She, Pete, and Jackie had worked hard to make sure her back story let her keep so much of her identity from the Prime Universe. "I haven't always been Jackie and Pete Tyler's heir. They gave me up for adoption when I was a baby. Pete was struggling to start his business and Mum wasn't ready to be a mother. I was adopted and grew up on a council estate in London. My adopted dad died when I was young and my adopted mum raised me by herself. When she died in the cybermen attacks, I went searching for my birth parents. When I found them, they took me in immediately. I guess the cybermen stuff caused them to shift their priorities a bit and realized that having a family was important after all. My little brother, Tony, was born not long after that." Rose glanced over at Jason to see his attention rapt on her story. She swallowed and took a deep breath, steeling herself to continue. The happiest and worst moments of her life were about to be shared.

"I met my husband, John, a couple of years before the invasion. He was brilliant and traveled the uni…. …. world helping others and he invited me to come along and help him. He was my best mate and then we got separated and lost each other. I knew I loved him before that, but I regretted not being able to tell him in person. Then one day, we were reunited during a Torchwood mission. He confessed his love for me when the mission was over and we knew we weren't going to waste any more time not being honest with each other about our feelings. Our daughter was born 3 years later. Samantha was as brilliant as her father – so smart and creative. She always kept us on our toes." Rose smiled remembering John and Samantha in a way that she hadn't let herself do in a long time. Before she could stop them, the tears started to flow and Rose took a few deep breaths before continuing.

"Two years ago, we were on our way home from dinner with my parents and Tony. It was raining and a lorry lost control and slammed into our car. I don't remember anything for a month after that. The doctors said they both died instantly; it was a miracle that I survived, much less with only a couple of scratches and bruises." Rose looked down at her bare arms at the long-disappeared evidence of the accident. This time, it was Jason's turn to take Rose's hand and offer comfort through touch. They sat in silence, absorbing solace and support from each other without words to get in the way. Their shared experiences of loss bonded them stronger than anything else they might have in common.

A cool evening breeze picked up and Rose shivered at the drop in temperature. Her subtle movement shook them both out of their thoughts. Jason stood and offered his coat to Rose and they walked back to the car, allowing the silence between them to speak volumes. When they reached Jason's car, Jason bent down to open Rose's door but stopped short. He straightened up and stood close enough that Rose could feel his breath on her face. Rose wondered what he was going to do next when he opened his mouth to speak. "Thank you for coming with me tonight. I haven't felt so comfortable with someone in a very long time."

Rose smiled gently at Jason and leaned in to place a soft kiss on his cheek. She moved back slightly and barely managed to whisper "I feel the same way. Thank you." After another pause, Jason reached the rest of the way to open the door and assist Rose into the car.

They drove in silence back to the hotel. At some point during the brief trip, their hands met in the middle and rested next to the gear shift. The softness of the moment was broken when Jason pulled up to the hotel and parked the car. He exited and walked quickly to the other side to help Rose out of the car. Their hands found each other's automatically as they walked into the lobby. They stopped near the lift and Jason spoke first.

"I have a lab first thing tomorrow, but I'm free the rest of the day. If you'd like, you can meet me after that and I can give you a tour of the University," he suggested shyly, tilting his head slightly to look at the floor.

"I'd like that," Rose replied, happy for another opportunity to spend time with Jason. Jason squeezed her hand and leaned in for another chaste, but enthusiastic kiss on her cheek as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Fantastic!" He exclaimed. "I'll text you in the morning with the time and location. Good night, Rose."

"Good night, Jason"

This time, it was Jason who lingered, watching as Rose entered the lift and the doors close behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose walked into her hotel room feeling happy and carefree for the first time in two years. An imaginary weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she had Jason to thank for that. She changed into her pajamas and washed the makeup from her face. As she climbed into bed, she took her phone out of her purse and glanced at the screen to see a text from Jake.

 _Jake: I finished that research you asked about. I sent it to your tablet. Call me when you get it._

Rose got out of bed and fished the tablet out of her bag and sat down on the bed to open the file. She glanced at it briefly and then hit "call" on her phone.

"Hi, Rose!"

"Hi, Jake. What did you find?" Rose asked, getting right to the point.

"I'm great Rose, thanks for asking," Jake teased.

"Sorry, Jake. I've just been a bit preoccupied."

"It's okay, Rose. I was only teasing. So, Jason Tempest has every bit the normal profile. Well, maybe not normal, but perfect. Parents, a sibling, bit of a wayward youth, military career, education, marriage, etc."

"So, everything he told me is true, then?"

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"His back story is perfect…. Too perfect. You see, for most people who've lived in this universe their whole life (and I'm sure the same is true in your universe), everybody's got hiccups in their history. Little blips that add an alias or some other anomaly. For example, imagine when you apply for a loan at the bank or you apply for lease at a flat. All it takes is for the person inputting your data to make one tiny typo and a whole new persona is created. Instead of Rose Tyler, suddenly you're Rose Tyler with an alias of Rose Gyler. Nearly everyone over the age of 20 has some sort of error like this in their history. But, Jason's is suspiciously error free, at least anything prior to about 12 years ago."

"So, you're saying that someone made up his background a decade ago? Was it Torchwood?"

"I wondered that too, but it just wasn't possible for Torchwood 12 years ago. I'm not aware of any government entity here or elsewhere on Earth that was capable of this type of thing that long ago. But, I can see how it would have gone unnoticed. After the mess with the cybermen, loads of people could move freely around the world, assuming a new identity in the place of someone who had been cyberized, especially if their appearance was similar." Rose sat silently, her brain trying to process everything Jake told her. Sensing her turmoil, Jake asked "You okay, Rose?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a lot to process," she replied, a bit breathlessly. She hadn't been sure what she wanted Jake's research to tell her, but she had at least hoped for some answers. Instead, she only had more questions. "Thanks for all this Jake. I guess I'll just have to put my Torchwood skills to work and see what else I can find out. I can't really explain it, but I know there is more to this than just some genetic twin or coincidence."

"Look, Rose," Jake continued, with a bit of hesitation in his voice. "I know it's hard to look at him objectively, but if you really want to solve this and not risk your heart at the same time, you've got to step back. Regardless of the woman you've been since you lost John and Sam, I know that deep down, you're still a kind and empathetic person who believes the best in people. Those are some of your greatest strengths, but they are also putting you at risk if you can't look at the situation from a neutral place."

Rose knew Jake was right. She had loved the Doctor, both incarnations, and his half-human "brother" (for lack of a better term) with all her heart for so very long, and still loved them. It had been easy to let down her guard around Jason and she needed to raise it back up until she knew what was going on and that it was safe to be that vulnerable again.

"Thanks, Jake. You're absolutely right."

"I know I am," Jake replied cheekily. "But, seriously, I love you, Rose. And it would kill me to see you hurt again. I'll try to dig around some more and let you know if I find anything. And in the meantime, if you need me to come to Manchester, I'll be there on the very next train. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks again, Jake."

"Anything for you, Rose. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jake."

Rose read through Jake's research and couldn't get her brain to shut off while it attempted to process everything she had read and heard from Jake. Where did Jason come from? If his background was made up 12 years ago, who could have done it? And why? Rose knew the answers were out there. She just had to find them.

She decided to put on some workout clothes and go find the hotel gym. It was nearly one in the morning, so the gym was empty. She worked up a sweat and finally found the exhausted state she needed to fall asleep a couple of hours later. Knowing that she didn't have to meet Jason until later, Rose knew she could sleep late if necessary.


	10. Chapter 10

Rose woke up the next morning with the sun shining brightly through the crack in the curtains. The height of the sun told her it was at least 10 o'clock. A glance at her phone confirmed it. She also saw two unread text messages:

Unread Message 1

 _Tony: Can you get me a limited edition Man U football? Miles says they are only selling them at the gift shop of the National Football Museum. Thx, sis!_

Unread Message 2

 _Jason: Hope you slept well. Meet me at noon at the Gallery Café on Oxford Rd. Looking forward to seeing you._

Rose responded to Tony with "I'll see what I can do." And an eye-rolling emoji.

Then she responded to Jason with a simple "Me too."

She had plenty of time to make tea in her hotel room mini-bar before hopping in the shower to get ready for the day. It wasn't until she was finishing the last of her lukewarm tea when she realized that this was the first time she'd made herself tea since the accident. She had switched to coffee because the tea never quite tasted right without John there. But ever since her tea the morning of the storm when she first met Jason, tea had returned to her daily ritual and she smiled at the thought.

Rose was out the door of her hotel an hour later, wearing a casual outfit and comfortable walking shoes. The clouds seemed to be teasing the sun, so she brought along an umbrella just in case, not that she would mind another run to the sanctuary of Jason's flat. She nearly left the umbrella behind at the thought, but decided against it.

She arrived at the café just after noon and spotted Jason immediately. He was in his trademark dark denims, a blue jumper that mimicked the color of his eyes, and his supple leather coat. His face lit up with a genuine smile from ear-to-ear. He had a bit of stubble on his face, evidence that perhaps he'd had difficulty sleeping last night and woke up too late to shave before his lab.

His grin didn't fade as he wiggled his fingers in a wave and said "Hello."

"Hi."

"I thought we might start with lunch here and then tour the Whitworth Art Gallery. You didn't mention it yesterday, so I'm hoping you haven't already seen it?"

Rose smiled, noting that Jason had remembered which galleries she had said she visited the day before. "You're right; I didn't make it over to this one."

"Fantastic!" Jason exclaimed. "After the gallery, and assuming the rain doesn't wash us out, we can tour the rest of the University. Just wait until you see the library!" Jason was bouncing on his toes now. Rose wondered if he'd have the patience to sit through the meal and the tour of the art gallery.

They ate their meal quickly while Jason rambled on about this morning's lab and all the parts of the University he wanted to show Rose. After touring the collection at the Whitworth, they walked the campus, with Jason pointing out the buildings, expounding on the history and architecture of each one.

It was getting late and Jason wanted to make one more stop to show Rose the impressive John Rylands library, especially the cathedral-like space of the reading room. When they walked in, Rose's breath was taken away by the sight and the smell of the books. Immediately she felt like she was back on the TARDIS, exploring the stacks of the library. She meandered along the aisles, wanting to run her fingers along the spines of the books encased in glass. She decided that this was her favorite spot on the campus.

"This is gorgeous!" Rose exclaimed quietly (she was in a library, after all). She grinned at Jason, "Thanks for saving the best for last."

"Well, Rose Tyler, this isn't the last spot, but definitely the best. I need to run back by my office to get a few things and on the way, we can figure out what we want to do next. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Rose replied, anxious to see Jason's office and what secrets it might reveal about the man and his history.

They walked the short distance to Jason's office. He waved hello a couple of fellow professors, but didn't stop to talk. Jason's office was as chaotic as his reading nook at his flat. But unlike the rest of his flat, this one at least appeared to be lived-in. Rose even noted a pillow and blanket in the corner. She smiled imaging Jason falling asleep in his office after a late night of working, much like the Doctor had done on more than one occasion under the TARDIS console.

Jason collected his messenger bag and added some papers and books to it. Once he slung it over his shoulder, he invited Rose back to his flat for dinner.

"I'd love that," Rose responded. Just as they were exiting campus, the rain began to fall and Rose pulled her umbrella out. It was a small one, but they didn't seem to mind sharing. Jason moved his bag to the other side of his body so that he could put his arm around Rose and hold the umbrella over them both as they walked the few blocks to Jason's flat.

"How do you feel about shrimp tacos?" Jason asked as they entered his flat a few minutes later.

"Sounds exotic," Rose answered.

"It's a favorite of mine and the shrimp looked good at the market yesterday. It's a quick meal to make." He explained. Rose sat down at the kitchen table to watch Jason work. He set the shrimp to marinade in some Mexican spices and began thinly slicing purple cabbage. He also pulled out some flour tortillas and set them in the oven to warm up. As he grilled the shrimp on an indoor grill, Rose couldn't help but be mesmerized by his gracefulness and fluidity in the kitchen. It wasn't long before they were sitting down to dinner with shrimp tacos, rice, and black beans.

Rose took a bite and couldn't help the moan that escaped her mouth. The salty spice from the shrimp with the crisp cabbage and creamy jalapeno sauce drizzled over the top was a taste combination she had never had before and her taste buds couldn't wait for the next bite.

Jason glanced at her with a smug look, "good?" he inquired.

"Amazin'," Rose responded.

"I tried this dish a few years ago on a trip to Mexico. The seafood in the Yucatan is so fresh there. All we need is a margarita and this meal would be an exact replica." Jason continued.

After dinner, Rose offered to do the dishes, but Jason shooed her out of the kitchen. He assigned her with the task of refilling their wine glasses and finding something to watch on the telly. Jason joined her on the sofa a few minutes later.

"Couldn't find anything to watch?" Jason asked when he saw the television was off.

"Nope," Rose replied. "I don't watch much TV, so I wouldn't be able to follow any of the shows right now."

"How about a movie?" Jason offered. Rose hesitated to answer, more interested in spending time with Jason rather than watching a movie that she knew she wouldn't be able to pay any attention to.

"Ummm….." Rose wasn't sure how to proceed or whether she should. She and the Doctor had always just enjoyed each other's company – chatting or reading to each other. "Maybe we could just talk some more. If that's okay…"

"Fine with me. Got an endless gob, me." Jason smiled. "Let me just put on some quiet music." Jason plugged his phone into his stereo and the sounds of 1920s-1930s jazz and swing music. Jason settled on the sofa, sitting so that he could face Rose. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Tell me more about your adventures. I haven't traveled much that wasn't work related; maybe I can live vicariously through you."

Jason proceeded to tell Rose about his trip to Mexico, studying Aztec and Mayan history. He then talked about visits to various parts of Europe for physics conferences, and a trip to New York representing the University at a sciences symposium. They laughed at his adventures (often misadventures) where he would end up on the wrong train or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rose told Jason a bit about some of her Torchwood missions, at least the ones that weren't classified or too gruesome to relive. As the evening moved to night, there was a break in the conversation. The familiar sounds of Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade filled the air. Jason stood and offered a hand to Rose, "May I have this dance?"

Rose smiled at Jason, taking his hand and letting him guide her over to the open floor near the fireplace. Jason held Rose's hand in his and placed his other hand at her waist, keeping a chaste distance between them. As they swayed gently to the music, the dancers slowed closed the distance separating them. Rose rested her head on Jason's chest and Jason nuzzled his cheek against the side of her head and moved the hand at her waist around to the small of her back. Rose heard him breathe deeply into her hair.

The song ended and they continued swaying in their embrace, seemingly oblivious to the change in music. Eventually, they separated slightly, keeping their hips pressed together and their legs intertwined, allowing them to look into each other's eyes. Jason brushed his thumb over the skin of her hand he was holding, steeling himself as if he needed to confess something. "Rose," he said breathlessly. "I hope I don't scare you off by saying this. I know it's only been a few days since we first met, but I find myself utterly distracted by you. I've never felt as close and comfortable with someone before, much less someone I've only just met. It's as if we were destined to find each other. And I find that when we are together, it's getting harder to let you go at the end of the day."

"Then don't," Rose answered. Rose knew, logically, that she shouldn't go on. She would never move this fast with any other man; Jake's voice in her head told her this was a bad idea. But everything within her heart said to keep going. "Don't let me go."

Jason stared into her eyes and Rose saw happiness in those icy blue depths. Happiness and something else even more powerful. She saw hope. Jason reached his other hand from her back up to cup Rose's cheek as he continued to gaze into her eyes. Rose nuzzled her cheek into his palm, and when she looked back at Jason, he closed the distance between them and kissed her. The kiss was gentle at first, tentative like he was waiting for Rose to respond. Rose leaned in further, adding to the pressure on their lips and after a moment of hesitant lips moving over each other, Rose parted her lips to run her tongue along his lower lip. Jason immediately responded. He opened his mouth and their tongues met, just as lightening crashed outside and the power went off inside Jason's flat. The thunder jolted them apart and they gazed at each other another moment before realizing that the flat was dark, save the light streaming in the window from the street light outside.

"Stay here," Jason said as he released her. Rose's body protested the loss of his warmth. She couldn't see where he was going, but soon heard the sound of a match striking and the living room was illuminated by the flame. Jason lit a few candles and set them on the coffee table. He then went over to the fireplace and started a fire. Rose returned to the sofa and couldn't help but relax in the flickering light of the candles and fireplace, despite the rapid beating of her heart. She tried to stifle a yawn, but Jason saw her.

"It's late and you should get some sleep. This rain may last a while. Why don't you take my bed and I'll just sit out here and read for a bit. I'll wake you when the rain stops and I can drive you back to the hotel." Jason reached for a book that sat on the coffee table, a collection of Charles Dickens short stories. He moved a few candles to the table next to the sofa nearest his seat to give him enough light to read by.

"How about you read to me instead?" Rose suggested.

"Alright," Jason smiled and opened the book to one of his favorites. Rose snuggled next to Jason as he began reading. Within minutes, Rose was asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

As Rose's awareness returned, she first noted the scent that surrounded her. It was achingly familiar – tea, spice, and time. At first she wondered if she was still dreaming, back to when she woke up surrounded by these smells every morning with John in the bed next to her. As she breathed deeply, she also smelled bananas and cinnamon. Her ears spied the sounds of someone working with kitchen utensils and softly humming. She opened her eyes and realized she was in an unfamiliar bedroom. The other half of the large bed she was in was empty, including the pillows. Rose slowly remembered the night before – dinner at Jason's flat, the conversation, the dancing, and the storm. She realized that Jason must have carried her to his room, and based on the lack of pillows on one side, he must have slept elsewhere.

Rose pulled the duvet off and noticed she was still clothed, minus her shoes and socks. She padded softly into the loo. She emerged a few minutes later, after having used her finger and some toothpaste to get rid of any morning breath.

As she walked quietly out to the living room, the smell of cinnamon and bananas, mixed with fresh brewed tea, grew stronger. She glanced at the sofa and her assumption about last night's sleeping arrangements was confirmed. The missing pillows and a spare blanket were haphazardly piled on the sofa. Jason turned and saw Rose enter the room.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Jason smiled teasingly.

"Mornin'," Rose muttered. Jason handed Rose a cuppa. "Ta."

"You slept so soundly last night, you didn't even wake when I carried you to the bedroom. I figured you needed to sleep. I hope you don't mind," Jason questioned.

"No, I don't mind. I'm only sorry you slept out here instead of your own bed because of me," Rose explained.

"I don't mind," Jason replied. "The sofa's comfy enough for a kip. Plus, don't need much sleep, me."

Rose sipped her tea and couldn't suppress the moan as the warm, soothing liquid traveled down her throat. She opened her eyes (when had she closed them?) to see Jason staring at her, a hint of pink tinting the tips of his hears.

Jason cleared his throat, "Right… well… I've got banana nut muffins in the oven. They should be ready in a few minutes."

"Sounds great!" Rose smiled.

"I checked the weather report for today and it's going to be gorgeous. I thought it might be nice to take a trip out to the Lake District. That is, of course, if you want. I don't mean to monopolize your vacation time. You're probably getting tired of me, so nevermind, it was just an idea. I should let you have some vacation time to yourself and…"

"Jason…" Rose interrupted, smiling at his familiar rambling, "I'd love to explore the Lake District with you."

Jason grinned like a kid in a candy story. "Great! That's great. While the muffins finish, I'll just go grab a quick shower. Then I can drop you off at your hotel to shower, or whatever you need to do, while I go to the market and get us some picnic supplies. Then we'll be off!"

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to Rose's hotel. Rose was grateful that the TARDIS had packed clothing and shoes suitable for hiking. She met Jason in the lobby an hour later. Just as Rose and Jason were exiting the hotel, bright flashes from camera bulbs went off in their faces. Jason instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist and ushered her quickly to his car that was waiting with the valet. He started the car quickly and sped out of the portico of the hotel, tires squealing as he went.

"Sorry about that," Rose apologized as they made their way out of the city. "I'm surprised it took them this long to find me."

"Do the paparazzi always follow you when you go out in London?" Jason asked.

"Yes, usually," she sighed. "It gets worse after big news breaks, like when my parents first announced my existence, and my engagement and wedding. They calm down when my life gets boring, but there's almost always someone around. The only time they left me alone was after the accident. Pete paid all the publishers a hefty sum to keep the reporters and photographers away while I mourned." Rose gazed out the window of the car, not really paying attention to the scenery as they drove.

Rose continued, as if lost in thought and unaware that she was still speaking. "The worst was after my kidnappings…"

"Your _what_?!"

"My kidnappings. I've been kidnapped twice and held for ransom. The first time was right after my parents went public about me. Pete ended up paying the ransom, but he had a tracking device installed in the briefcase; the amateurs didn't think to ditch the briefcase once they had the money. They were caught and will be in jail until their 80s, at least. The second was before we went public with my relationship with John and after I'd been a Torchwood agent for a few years. They didn't get me far; John helped me escape and lead authorities back to the perpetrators. They'll be in prison for life." Rose told her story like it was old news and nothing compared to so many horrific trials she'd endured.

Jason glanced at her periodically, a look of awe and terror on his face. "Wow. That's the kind of thing you would expect in movies, not in real life."

"Yeah, but I guess that's the price for being heiress to one of the richest men in the world who also happens to run Torchwood. There are lots of people out there who don't like what Torchwood does – helping aliens and such. Pete and Torchwood have a number of enemies out there for just that reason alone. The great majority of the aliens we help are here peacefully – to enjoy a holiday, because they need assistance, or because they want to relocate permanently. Very few aliens we encounter wish to do us harm." Rose explained.

Rose and Jason continued to talk about Torchwood and aliens as they drove. Rose was proud of the work Torchwood had accomplished since she started working for them and liked being able to share those accomplishments with Jason. Jason beamed at her, clearly proud of her role in welcoming and assisting aliens. Rose decided to leave the more harrowing stories for another time, instead focusing on the happier ones.

Before either realized it, they had arrived in the Lake District. Jason drove a ways into the area, looking for the perfect spot to park, hike, and set up their picnic. After about 20 minutes of walking up hill from where they left the car, they found the perfect spot at the crest, overlooking the valley and lake below, the puffy white clouds vibrant against the blue sky. The lake glistened in the midday sun.

Rose and Jason set out their picnic and settled down to eat and talk. After an hour, they continued their hike and the trail eventually looped back around to the car. Rose and Jason decided to go explore the nearby town and then select their next destination in order to watch the sunset before heading back to Manchester. As they strolled the cobblestone streets, Rose admired the window displays of many of the shops displaying souvenirs, locally-made jewelry and art, and confections.

Jason ushered her into an ice cream parlor when he heard Rose's stomach grumble. As they exited with their double scoops of ice cream, they wandered a bit further down the road to a bench to sit and enjoy their treats.

"How's the cotton-candy ice cream?" Jason asked.

"It's delicious, if you can ignore the odd blue hue," Rose replied. "Want to try?" She held out the cone for Jason, but just as his tongue was about to take a lick, Rose moved the cone to smear bright blue ice cream over the tip of Jason's nose. He scowled at her briefly and then they both burst into giggles. Rose reached out to wipe his nose with her napkin and saw a bright twinkle in Jason's eye. She cupped his cheek and he leaned into her touch. Slowly, Rose closed the distance between them and pressed a light kiss on his lips. Just as she was about to deepen the kiss, she froze. She heard a familiar noise and immediately the adrenaline began to pump through her body. She broke away from Jason and looked up to the west over his shoulder with wide eyes. Jason followed her gaze to the sky, just as a large alien ship flew over their heads, leaving a dark gray cloud of smoke in its wake. Rose followed it with her eyes, yelling "Stay here!", throwing her ice cream at her feet, and taking off at a sprint towards the crashing ship.


	12. Chapter 12

As she ran, Rose pulled out her Torchwood issued superphone and removed an earpiece that was hidden inside the back panel. She placed the earpiece in her ear just as Jake's voice was heard through the tiny speaker.

"Rose, the surveillance team spotted an unidentified alien craft on radar just outside of Windermere. Any chance you are in the area?"

Panting slightly, Rose responded. "Yep. I'm about 400 yards away and closing."

"WHAT?!" Jake exclaimed. "Of course you just so happen to be sprinting distance away from an alien crash site. Do you ever take a vacation?"

"Apparently not," she replied. "It looked like a Corellian-class transport ship. It left a trail of dark smoke as it came down. There may be casualties, so prep a medical team." Rose ordered.

"You got it. A team from Liverpool is on their way. ETA 20 minutes."

Rose recognized the sound of familiar boots coming up behind her. "I thought I told you to stay in town!" Rose yelled over her shoulder.

"And miss the chance to see you in action? No way!" Jason replied as he came up beside her. "Besides, maybe I can help."

Jake had obviously overheard the conversation. "Is your leather-doctor-doppelganger with you?"

"Yes," Rose sighed, wondering if his presence would put either of them at more risk than she would have been in alone. As they neared the site, Rose slowed and ordered instructions to Jason "Stay directly behind me by at least five feet. Keep your arms out to the side with palms up like this. It's a sign of non-aggression. Do not speak or move unless I say, got it?"

"You're beautiful when you're in charge," Jason replied. Rose could her Jake's laughter through her earpiece. She blushed and rolled her eyes at Jason; she knew she'd never hear the end of this from Jake. They slowed to a walking pace and approached the crash site as a handful of blue-skinned aliens exited the damaged ship. Rose pressed a few buttons on her phone as they approached and stopped to stand ten feet from the aliens.

"I am Rose Tyler, Protector of the Earth and representative of the humans who inhabit this planet. I am here to welcome and offer assistance." As she spoke, an alien language in Rose's voice came from the speaker of the phone in her hand.

The tallest of the blue humanoid-shaped aliens stepped forward and began to reply. His voice in English came out of the phone's speaker now.

"I am Garrok of Duro and Captain of this vessel. Our navigation system malfunctioned and took us too close to a powerful solar flare, damaging our ship and its shields. I have two crew in need of medical attention." He gestured to two smaller aliens being carried out and laid on the grass away from the ship. "I have already transmitted our coordinates to a nearby fleet, but it will take seven of your planet's rotations before it arrives," Garrok explained.

"We are prepared to offer you shelter, food and medical care. If you will permit me, I have some medical supplies in my bag and can help tend to your wounded until our medical team arrives?" Rose offered.

"Thank you, Rose Tyler, Protector of the Earth. Your assistance is appreciated. We recognize that our ship houses technology far beyond your species. We must remove the most vital portions of the ship before we can be relocated."

"Understood." Rose turned to Jason and motioned for him to bring her rucksack over, which she had dropped to the ground at his feet in their approach. Jason removed the medical kit and walked with Rose over to the wounded. Rose tapped her earpiece, "Jake, did you catch all that?"

"Yep. I've already got Malcolm's team from R&D ready to head out to help with the salvage efforts. We'll be there in less than an hour," Jake replied. "Can't wait to meet Dr. Leather," He added with a snicker.

Rose and Jason knelt down next to the first and most seriously injured. Rose identified the injuries quickly – mostly burns and abrasions. Jason took what he hoped were vital signs and announced them as he went along. Rose explained that the Duros had similar biology to humans, except for a lower core body temperature, lower blood pressure and pulse rate. Jason treated the wounds, noting a possible concussion as well. Rose moved over to the other wounded alien who was cradling her arm. "Looks like a broken arm over here. Throw me the splint." Rose quickly put a splint on the alien's arm and returned to Jason's side.

"See, better with two," Jason said, glancing briefly at Rose and smiling before returning to bandaging the wounds of the alien.

Rose moved off and returned to Garrok to explain what would happen next as his crew and Torchwood agents would work to assist them before relocating to a safe house to await their rescue. Once the Liverpool Torchwood team arrived, Jason returned to Rose's side.

Suddenly, a sizzle cracked through the air from the opposite side of the ship. Jason and Rose ran to the other side to see the cause. A Duros was backing away from an access panel, cradling his hand, fingers singed from an electrical burn.

"STOP!" Jason yelled just as a Torchwood agent was about to reach out to the same access panel. "Don't touch the panel. The regulator is fried and will electrocute you. We have to bypass the broken regulator and deactivate the power supply before you can access the panel." As he spoke, he patted the pockets of his jacket, as if looking for a tool. Out of instinct, Rose reached into her pocket and handed him her sonic screwdriver. He took it and quickly located the correct setting and got to work.

Rose gasped at his familiar speech and movements. He had acted similar to the Doctor before, but now there was no doubt in Rose's mind that this man was the Doctor. Her determination to solve the mystery of his origin and purpose flared to life as she watched him work. After a couple of minutes, the panel was safe to access and Rose tended to the Duros' burnt hand. Once the hand was bandaged, Rose led Jason by the arm a short distance from the crash site and asked, "how did you know about the regulator?"

"Oh…um…" Jason looked back and forth between the ship and Rose, "I… I don't know. It just seemed obvious, like instinct. But… I've never seen anything like this before." Jason's brow furrowed. He seemed genuinely perplexed about how he had known what to do with the control panel. He looked down at the sonic screwdriver in his hand. "What kind of device is this? Is it sonic? A great tool, this. Where can I get one?" he asked as he handed it back to Rose.

"It's a sonic screwdriver. John made it for me. He had one too, although his had a few more settings than mine has." Rose took the sonic, caressing it once lovingly and putting it safely back in her pocket. She watched Jason as he continued to be perplexed about the ship he just helped repair and the tool he used to do it. Rose noticed Jake and the R&D team approaching from the other side of the field. She walked over to Garrok to introduce Jake and Malcolm.

"Garrok, this is Jake Simmonds, Torchwood Commander, and Malcolm Taylor, the head of our engineering team. Dr. Taylor and his team are here to help expedite the removal of sensitive technologies. Once complete, Commander Simmonds will then escort you and your crew to a safe location where you can await the arrival of your fleet." Rose explained.

"Thank you, Rose Tyler, Protector of the Earth," Garrok spoke. "We are fortunate that we landed in this place and that you were the first human to come to our aid. I am in your debt." Garrok crossed his arms in a gesture of gratitude and bowed to Rose. Rose did the same and turned to leave. She glanced at Jake who followed her. Having witnessed the interaction with Garrok, Jason walked over to Rose and Jake.

Jake saw Jason approach and extended his hand to greet him, "Hey, mate. I'm Jake Simmonds. You must be Dr. Jason Tempest."

"Yep, that's me. Guess Rose told you about me, huh?" he asked.

"She mentioned you the other day when I called to check on her," Jake quickly explained. He stepped forward to stand directly in front of Jason. "Aside from being a colleague, I consider Rose my best mate; I'll do whatever it takes to protect her. She's suffered enough in all the years that I have known her and I'll kill anyone with my bare hands if they hurt her. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Jason responded, puffing out his chest in response to Jake's insinuation that he might hurt Rose. "Sounds like we both want the same thing - to see Rose happy. And I'll do whatever it takes to see her happy."

"I'm glad to see we understand each other," Jake smiled at Jason who smiled back.

"Well… Nice to meet you, Jakey boy." The use of the Doctor's old nickname for Jake wasn't missed by Jake or Rose. Jake gave a knowing glance to Rose. Rose shook her head and muttered something about testosterone.

"Sorry your evening was spent helping at a crash site. I hope you can still find some enjoyment tonight," Jake winked at Rose and she hoped Jason had missed it.

"Thanks, Jake. I'm just glad we were here and could offer immediate assistance. "

"Me too," admitted Jake. Rose and Jason turned to leave when Jake yelled out, "Oh, and Commander Tyler? Don't worry about the reports for this. I've got the recordings from the universal translator; I'll take care of the paperwork for you."

"Thanks, Jake," Rose replied. Jason and Rose began walking back toward the town center.

Jason turned to Rose and asked, "What was that about?"

"Jake's a good friend. I think he feels like he has to protect me since John is gone," Rose explained.

"Well, I'm glad to know that someone is watching out for you, but that's not what I was referring to. What's this about you being _Commander_ Tyler? You didn't tell me you're a commander," Jason explained.

"Oh. Yeah, I am. Jake and I are the most senior field agents for Torchwood." Rose wasn't sure what else to say.

"And I thought _I_ was impressive," Jason announced. Rose laughed and blushed a bit, putting her hand inside his arm when he offered it. As they walked back along the street, Rose failed to stifle a yawn. The adrenaline from a couple of hours before was wearing off and she knew she would fall asleep easily tonight. Jason noticed her exhaustion.

"How about we get a couple of rooms for tonight and drive back tomorrow? It's late and we could both do with some sleep," Jason suggested.

"Alright," Rose agreed. "I spotted a quaint looking B&B near the car park where your car is. Let's go see if they have any rooms left."

Unfortunately, the B&B had only one room left to rent, but it had two beds, so Jason and Rose checked in. The adrenaline was leaving their systems and both were too exhausted to find another place for the night. They both collapsed on their beds and were asleep quickly.


	13. Chapter 13

**I haven't been able to respond to all the reviews, but a huge thank you to everyone who is reading, favoriting, following, and commenting!**

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Rose awoke and immediately realized she was surrounded by smoke. It was hard to breathe and she coughed as she tried to catch her breath. She tried to move but found she was pinned by something heavy that she couldn't see or feel. She continued to struggle and cough. Panic began to fill her smoke-addled brain and she tried to yell out for help. She could move her arm and immediately reached out to find a hand that was limp and growing cold. She lifted the hand into her vision, praying that it wasn't the hand she thought was so familiar. Through the smoke she saw it, John's wedding band on the hand's ring finger. Rose squeezed the hand and began to call out to him. "John…. John! John, wake up, please! You can't die! Don't die, John. John…. DOCTOR!"

Suddenly, Rose felt her body being shaken and a distant, familiar voice came through the haze and smoke. "Rose? Rose! It's okay. Everything is okay. It was just a dream. It was just a dream," the voice repeated soothingly.

Rose opened her eyes and found Jason sitting next to her on the bed, one hand on her shoulder and the other caressing her cheek while he offered her reassurances. Rose sat up and threw her arms around Jason's neck and clung to him, trying desperately to calm her breathing and racing heart. Jason stroked Rose's back and shifted Rose so that she was sitting with her legs draped over his. Rose sobbed into Jason's shirt; she'd had nightmares before, but this one seemed more intense and more real than any of the others. She had remembered details of the accident she hadn't remembered in all the nightmares of the last two years.

As Rose's sobbing began to calm, she nuzzled her nose further into the joint between Jason's neck and shoulder. The smell of smoke in her nostrils was slowly replaced by Jason's scent with each inhale. As she relaxed further, Rose couldn't stop herself from tilting her head slightly, allowing her lips to make contact with Jason's neck. She brushed her lips next to his Adam's Apple and Jason sucked in a breath. Rose felt a surge of desperate need, and began kissing Jason's neck, moving her lips up to his ear and down his jaw until she reached his lips. She opened her brown eyes to gaze into Jason's blue orbs for a split second before closing the distance between their lips. The kiss was soft and tentative for only a moment until Rose's senses were too overwhelmed by his smell and taste. She deepened the kiss, her tongue begging for entrance, which Jason granted immediately. The kiss quickly grew heated and passionate, fueled by need to give and receive comfort to and from each other.

Rose shifted her legs so that she could straddle his thighs. She moved an arm to reach around Jason's shoulders to pull him close to her while the other moved up his neck to his hair and scratch her fingernails along his scalp. Jason moaned with pleasure and wrapped Rose into a tight embrace, with one arm around her low back and the other across her shoulders, his fingers reach up to the back of her head to hold her against his lips in an effort to keep the kiss from ending.

As they continued to snog each other breathless, Rose couldn't resist the heat that pooled at her center. She raised her thighs slightly and rolled her hips against Jason, gasping at the friction she achieved and feeling the evidence of Jason's arousal through their layers of clothing. Jason moved his hands to grasp Rose's hips, urging her to move like that again. Rose moved her heat over Jason's erection again, causing both of them to throw their heads back at the pleasure that rocketed through their bodies. Rose moved over his erection again. But this time, her gasp came out with the name "John" spilling from her lips. Jason froze and Rose suddenly realized what she had said. She quickly moved off of Jason, pulling the duvet up to cover her body and then covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Jason…" Rose mumbled from behind her hands. Jason reached for her hands and removed them from in front of her face. "I'm so sorry. I…" He smiled gently at her and placed a finger over her lips to silence her apologies.

"Rose, it's okay. Really…" Jason comforted her. "You woke up from a nightmare that I can only imagine was about the accident that took John from you. It's completely natural to seek comfort in a loving embrace." He moved his hand to caress her cheek. "In a way, I'm glad you called me John, because if we didn't stop when we did, I'm not sure I would have been able to stop. And we shouldn't take things any further right now."

Rose was surprised to hear Jason's confession. Did he not want that kind of physical relationship with Rose? Was he not interested in her like that? As if sensing Rose's doubts, Jason continued. "Don't misunderstand. Want more than snogging, me. But, I don't want it like this, when we're exhausted, physically and emotionally. I won't take advantage of you like that, Rose. Not ever."

Rose reached up to caress Jason's cheek. "Thank you," she responded quietly.

Jason kissed Rose's palm and then stood up from the bed. Rose couldn't decide whether she should feel relieved by the distance or disappointed by it. "Why don't I go down to the dining room and fix us both a nice cuppa?" Jason offered. Rose remembered the gentleman at check-in pointing out a beverage cart in the dining room that was available for guests at any time. Rose smiled and nodded. Jason picked up the room key and headed out the door.

While he was gone, Rose decided to splash some water on her face in the en-suite and attempt to calm her nerves. In the silence of the room, Rose thought back over the last few days. She had done exactly what Jake had warned her against. She had allowed Jason to fill-in the empty corner of her heart that John had left behind when he died. Rose knew that she would never act this way with someone she had only met a few days ago. She had to reign in her emotions and try not to ignore the fact that Jason was a stranger to her… a stranger who just happened to look like her husband when she first met him.

Jason returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups of tea, prepared just the way Rose liked it. Rather than sit on bed, Rose and Jason took seats on the small sofa in the room, putting them close to each other but without the temptation of the bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jason asked after they had both partially finished their tea.

"About the dream?" Rose asked.

"About the dream, or John. Whatever is on your mind," John suggested. "You can talk to me about him, you know. About them both, really. Anyone important to you is important to me too, Rose."

Rose continued to sip her tea, building up her strength to start her story. Rose hadn't spoken much about John since the accident. Even when Pete insisted Rose see the Torchwood psychiatrist when she returned to work, Rose had kept so much inside. She hadn't wanted to talk about it. She had wanted to keep it close, as if talking about it would mean she might lose it. But, Rose didn't want to hide this from Jason.

"John was brilliant," Rose began. "His intelligence was off the charts – doctor in medicine, physics, astronomy, mathematics, history, and literature. There wasn't a problem he couldn't solve eventually. And he loved to tinker. I was always catching him taking apart appliances to "improve" them. " Rose smiled as she recalled all the ruined toasters and blenders she had replaced over the years. "Mum made her kitchen off-limits after he destroyed her third microwave. He seemed to have endless amounts of energy. I never thought he'd be one to settle down and do "domestics" but as long as he had something to do or study or tinker with, he was happy. And then we had Samantha and he had someone else with as much energy and curiosity as himself. They were a pair – he even set up "safe" experiments for Sam to run in a corner of his lab. She was so much like him – bright, energetic, inquisitive, and funny. They were inseparable. You'll never find another father/daughter pair like those two." Rose continued to reminisce about her life with John and Samantha, telling him about their adventures, experiments, and desire to travel once Samantha was old enough. They were planning their first big family trip when the accident happened.

Rose spent the next hour, telling story after story to Jason, laughing sometimes to the point of crying, in both joy at the memories and sorrow at what was now lost. Jason listened attentively and laughed along with Rose when she laughed. And when she cried he scooted closer, wrapping an arm around her and holding her as she worked through her sadness. Rose couldn't see it, but Jason shed a few tears too.

As the time passed, both Rose and Jason began to feel tired again and agreed to go back to bed and try to get a little more sleep before check-out time. By 9am, Jason and Rose were back in Jason's car, heading back to Manchester.


	14. Chapter 14

On the drive back to Manchester, Rose remembered the message from Tony about the football he wanted her to buy. "Jason, can we stop at the National Football Museum on the way? Tony asked me to pick up some limited edition Man U football that they are selling."

Jason thought for a moment "I've got a better idea. Why don't we go to the game tonight and you can pick up a ball then? My mate is a sponsor for the team and has a suite that he rarely uses now that he lives in London. I'm sure he won't mind if we use it."

"Really?" Rose had never seen a professional football game live. She'd watched many in the pub with Mickey back in her old universe, and of course Tony's games throughout his childhood. She imagined Tony would be quite jealous of Rose if he knew she would be seeing his favorite time live and in a fancy suite. "Sounds like fun!"

"I'll call him after I drop you off at the hotel. I'm sure you'll want to shower and everything, before we go out again. I'll text you the details once I confirm them."

Jason dropped Rose off at the hotel and she went right into the shower. When she got out of the shower, she saw a series of text messages on her phone.

 _Jason: All set for this afternoon. Game starts at 5._

 _Jason: I'll come pick you up at 4:30._

 _Jason: Wear red._

 _Rose: Can't wait_

Jason arrived on time, wearing a red Manchester United jersey, jeans, and matching red trainers. The TARDIS hadn't disappointed with a gorgeous red satin tunic for Rose that paired well with her dark skinny jeans and knee-high boots.

When Jason escorted Rose into the suite, she was pleasantly surprised by the views and amenities. A small kitchen off to one side provided cool beverages and appetizers spread out across the counter. Some high tables and stools were scattered around on one side of the moveable glass walls that looked out at the pitch. A comfy sofa sat on the other side of the room. Jason pushed open the sliding glass wall to reveal a dozen stadium chairs out in the open like the rest of the arena seating. The suite provided a great view of the game and the excitement of the crowd, but also privacy for intimate gatherings of people.

Jason eyed the spread of snacks and drinks. "Looks like my mate called ahead." As a centerpiece of the spread of food sat a clear glass case with a limited edition Man U football inside, covered in what Rose assumed to be autographs from the team. In a shopping bag off to the side Jason found another ball, this one unsigned and ready for daily use.

"Oh my god! Tony is going to flip when he sees this ball!" Rose exclaimed. "I might give him the regular ball when I get home and save the autographed one for Christmas."

As the game got started, Rose and Jason moved from the quiet comfort of the suite into the stadium seats. They couldn't help but get as excited as the rest of the fans, cheering with them. And every time Man U scored, they snogged in celebration. Just as the second half of the game got started, Man U scored a third goal. Rose and Jason were mid-snog and didn't notice the door to the suite opening. They also didn't notice a tall, handsome American waltz in and stand admiring the couple until he let out a wolf whistle and they jumped apart.

Rose couldn't hide her shock. Her eyes grew wide when we spied the familiar 51st century omni-sexual former Time Agent standing there with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"Jack!" Jason exclaimed and lunged forward to embrace the new arrival. Rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man who looked like her first doctor was friends with a man who looked like her best mate from her old universe. Rose realized she was either extremely lucky or in the middle of a fantastic dream that would end as soon as her alarm sounded. Or maybe she was in a coma? Whatever the explanation, she reminded herself to contain her excitement and use her Torchwood training to try and treat this newcomer like the stranger that he was until proven otherwise.

"Rose, this is Jack, my best mate," Jason returned to Rose's side, placing a hand on the small of her back to bring her forward to meet Jack. Rose extended her hand to greet Jack.

In true Jack fashion, he took Rose's hand and brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service." Despite herself, Rose felt her face flush.

"Jaaack…" Jason's warning tone oozed _hands off the blonde_.

"What? I'm just saying hello." Jack smiled and winked at Rose. Jason's arm wrapped further around Rose in a protective gesture. Rose reassured Jason by leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. Rose loved Jack, but he was never one for monogamy. She assumed this parallel version would be similar.

"What are you doing in Manchester?" Jason asked. "You didn't mention that you were coming when we spoke earlier."

"I have some work to do near here and when you told me you were bringing a date to my suite, I knew I couldn't miss this!" Jack grinned like a cat who got the canary. "I took an earlier train than planned so that I could get here before the game ended. And I'm not the only one keeping secrets. You didn't tell me you were dating a celebrity."

Rose smiled at their friendly banter. She could almost imagine them together in the TARDIS like the old days. "Well, to Jason's credit, he didn't know who I was when we met. He just grabbed my hand and dragged me back to his place." Rose explained, hoping Jack would take the bait in her vague retelling of their first meeting. Jack's jaw dropped at the unexpected revelation.

"Oi! I was saving you from a dangerous thunderstorm." Jason reminded her.

"Well, glad to see I'm rubbing off on you a bit," Jack laughed. "I'll rub a little more if you want…" Jack winked, but Rose couldn't tell who he directed that one to.

"Jack! Keep the innuendo under control or I'll kick you out of your own suite." Jason admonished.

"It's okay," Rose said. "Jack reminds me of a mate I had growing up. I can handle him."

"I sure hope so," Jack muttered.

Jason growled in reply, so Rose intervened, reaching up to turn Jason's head towards her and continuing their snog-fest from the last goal. She hoped her actions spoke louder than Jack's innuendos.

The trio watched the rest of the game, exchanging light conversation during time-outs. Jack and Jason had met during their time in the military and had been friends ever since. Jack was working as a private investigator in London.

When the game ended, they agreed to meet the following evening for a pint. Jason dropped Rose off at her hotel. Just as Rose was getting comfortable under the duvet of her hotel bed, her phone alerted her to a text.

 _Jason: I've never enjoyed football as much as I did today. Thanks for making the sport so pleasurable. {winking emoji}_

Rose giggled at Jason. Perhaps Jack's presence really does rub off on him.

 _Rose: Anytime. I wonder what other sports we can enjoy together {winking emoji}_

Rose could feel the blush on her cheeks. This was a rabbit hole she wasn't sure she should go down via text. While Rose waited for a reply from Jason, she texted Tony a photo of the unsigned football. Tony replied immediately.

 _Tony: You are the best sister ever!_

Rose was just about to give up on waiting for Jason to reply when her phone dinged again.

 _Jason: Searching for tickets to the next Olympics…_

 _Rose: Olympics? Shouldn't we train for that first?_

 _Jason: I'm game if you are._

 _Rose: And now I know what I'll be dreaming about tonight. Good night, Jason. Thank you! {blushing emoji}_

 _Jason: Good night, Rose. {kissing emoji}_

Just as Rose was about to fall asleep, she realized she needed Jake to do a bit more research.

"Hi, Rose. How's Dr. Leather?" Jake answered his phone.

"Hi, Jake. He's fine. Took me to see a Man U game tonight. We had awesome seats in a private suite."

"No way! Mickey would be so jealous."

"Yeah, he would be." Rose and Jake paused, both taking a moment to remember their good friend who had returned to the prime universe nearly a decade ago.

"Anyway… I'm sure you're not calling to tell me the score. That is, if you were even paying attention to it…" Rose could hear Jake's grin without even seeing it.

"No, I'm not. I've got another person I need you to dig up a profile on. Jack Harkness"

"Captain Jack? The randy 51st century Time Agent? Are you serious?"

"Yep," Rose replied. "He showed up at the game tonight. Apparently, he's living in London but sponsors the team. The suite was his. According to them, he and Jason have been friends for years."

"Wow, Rose…" Jake contemplated the scenario Rose was living in Manchester. "You should think about buying a lottery ticket, considering the luck you're having this week."

"Yeah," Rose smiled, but a part of her was still trying to maintain some of her neutrality in this very personal situation.

"Well, lucky for you, I've got the night shift tonight, so this will give me something to do for the next few hours. Assuming we don't get invaded in the meantime."

"Thanks, Jake. Goodnight."

"Anytime, Rose. Goodnight."

Rose fell asleep a short while later and had the most pleasant dreams, reliving her happiest adventures with her first Doctor and Captain Jack.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Rose woke up to a text from Jake.

 _Jake: Research should be downloaded to your tablet. Hope I get to meet Captain Jack soon. He sounds like my type. {winking emoji}_

Rose reviewed the report and called Jake.

"Hey Rose. Reviewed the profile?"

"Hi Jake. Yep – American born in Ohio, joined the Air Force and was part of an exchange program with the RAF. Met Jason while on a tour in the Middle East. Honorably discharged. Works as a private investigator. Anything missing?"

"Nope, same story as Jason's. Normal profile for the last 12 years. Prior to that, it's all too perfect. So, whoever or whatever created their profiles a decade ago was a bit too good."

"Well, I'm meeting them both for drinks tonight at the pub. Maybe I'll be able to find a crack in their stories tonight. Jack may be an even bigger flirt when he's drunk, but he's also an honest drunk."

"Sounds like fun," Jake said. "Let me know if you need backup. I'm happy to buy a few rounds of drinks."

Rose laughed at Jake. He and Jack would make a good match, depending on how all this worked out. "I'll let you know. Talk to you later, Jake."

"Bye, Rose."

Rose got out of bed and went to get in the shower when her phone dinged.

 _Jason: I've got a few department meetings on campus today. Won't be able to get away until right before we're scheduled to meet Jack. Sorry we can't spend the day together._

 _Rose: It's okay. I'm sure I can find more of Manchester to explore._

 _Jason: The MOSI is a great museum._

 _Rose: Great idea! I'll go explore it. See you at the pub at 7._

 _Jason: Can't wait._

Rose got ready and headed out to the Museum of Science and Industry. She couldn't help thinking about how much John and Sam would have loved the MOSI. Well… maybe not loved, per se. They would have enjoyed laughing at the remedial understandings of physicals, geology, and paleontology. She ate lunch at the museum café and let her mind wander into happier memories of poking fun at popular science fiction movies on family movie night. Rose missed them so much in these moments, but she realized that for the first time, the memories didn't also bring a flood of tears and panic attacks. Perhaps it was time that was healing her wounds. Or perhaps it was the presence of another in her life. The man that was so much like her first true love but just different enough to be like a new love.

Love? No… not love. At least not yet. Rose was open to the idea psychologically, but her heart wasn't ready yet. There were still too many unanswered questions about Jason and now the appearance of Jack. She couldn't let herself become vulnerable to love until she knew the truth.

Rose checked her watch and decided to head toward the pub. She meandered through the streets, taking an indirect route in an effort to delay herself a bit and also see more of Manchester. She also needed to get her thoughts in order and play out some Torchwood-esque scenarios about how to get to the bottom of the question of Jason and Jack's true origins.

Rose arrived at the pub a half an hour too early. She decided to go ahead and find a seat, pull out her phone and read the emails from work that she'd successfully avoided for the last seven days. Not much of interest anyway – policy memos, updates about building maintenance, etc. Ten minutes later, the door to the pub opened with a flourish and Rose looked up to glance at the door. Rose jumped at the sight of Jack walking in the door. He looked around the mostly empty pub, obviously looking for a table he could claim for the three of them when he spotted Rose. He grinned that trademark flirtatious grin and headed over to Rose.

"Hello, beautiful," Jack greeted Rose, reaching down to kiss her chastely on the cheek. Rose couldn't help her slight blush. Even as best mates in the original universe, Jack knew all the right buttons to push.

"Hi, Jack," Rose replied.

"You're here early," he observed.

"Well, there's only so much time you can spend at the Museum of Science and Industry before you need a beer," she replied.

Jack laughed at that. "I suppose so. Where's Jason? I'm surprised he's not here with you, glaring at me with that look on his face."

"He's at the University. Said he had some department meetings and wouldn't get here until 7," Rose replied. "And what do you mean 'that look on his face'?"

"Oh you know… the look that says 'hands off the blonde, Jack. She's mine.'," Jack grinned and chuckled. Rose knew that look and was glad Jack knew it too. It would certainly make establishing boundaries easy if Jack knew where he stood. Or at least, where he was allowed to stand.

"Yes, I thought I recognized that face at the game last night when you interrupted a brilliant snog," she teased.

"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt. I simply thought I'd inquire about joining, but Jason's reaction made it clear that was a party for two, not three," he smiled.

Rose and Jack both laughed at that. After a few moments of silence, Rose decided to jump in head first. She had to take advantage of this opportunity without Jason around to try to get more intel. "So, Jack, where are you from originally? I assume America?"

"Yep, grew up in a small town in Ohio."

"That's nice. I've never been to Ohio…." Rose ran scenarios in her brain like prize wheel until she landed on her next move. "You know, you remind me of someone I knew once. He was from the Boeshane Peninsula. Do you know anyone from there?"

At the name of Jack's real hometown, he froze, but quickly recovered. Anyone without Torchwood training would have missed it, but it didn't escape Rose. "Nope, never heard of it." Jack was clearly a tiny bit uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was going and quickly offered "How about I go to the bar and order our first round of drinks? With any luck, we can have a nice buzz before Jason gets here."

Without waiting for a reply from Rose, Jack stood up and walked over to the bar to place the order. He glanced back at her and smiled before returning his attention to the bartender. Rose knew she had hit a nerve and spun the wheel in her head looking for her next move. She didn't have to look far. As Jack returned with two beers, he reached forward to hand one to Rose. His long sleeve pulled up slightly with the motion to reveal the edge of a vortex manipulator strapped to his wrist. Rose let him sit down and get comfy again before she made her next move.

"So, do you get to go back and visit your hometown much?" Rose was steering this conversation at full speed.

"Nah. Don't really have time to travel that far."

"Why is that? Does your vortex manipulator not work?" She glanced quickly down at his covered wrist and back up at him.

He couldn't hide the shock this time. "How do you know about those? I didn't think Torchwood had that kind of technology yet."

"They don't," Rose said sternly. "But that doesn't mean I don't know what one looks like." Jack had revealed part of his hand and Rose was all too eager to get him to reveal the rest. If this version of Jack was anything like her old universe Jack, he could be a trusted and loyal friend once he knew you could be the same. Rose decided to take a chance and share more about herself to try to get him to open up more about his origins. "Look, Jack, I wasn't kidding when I said I knew someone from the Boeshane Peninsula who you remind me of. Because that person is you… well, I think, a parallel version of you from a different universe. And that Jack was a very close friend of mine from the 51st century, a former Time Agent who joined me and my other friend, an alien, in a sentient space ship that could travel through time and space. That is until twelve years ago when I was stranded in this universe away from both of them. So, if you're anything like the man I just described, I hope you'll help me solve the mystery of how you and Jason came to be living here, in the 21st century."

Jack stared at Rose. She could see her words rolling around in Jack's head while he tried to decide what he could tell Rose. He took a few swigs of his beer, as if the amber liquid would give him the courage to tell Rose the truth. After a moment of contemplation, Jack spoke. "You're right. I'm not from this time. I'm honestly not even sure how I got here. And you're right; my vortex manipulator doesn't work anymore. Technically, it works, but not very well. I can jump back a week, maybe two, at a time and I can't change my location beyond a few hundred miles. So, returning to my time and my home is impossible."

Jack's explanation was a start. Rose and Jack both took drinks from their pints when the door to the pub opened and in walked Jason. The moment he saw Rose, his face lit up and he strode quickly over to her. He took a seat next to Rose, kissing her firmly and saying "How are my two favorite people this evening?" he asked with a smile.

"What? No kiss for me?" Jack asked with his trademark flirty grin.

"Jack…" Jason left the remainder of his warning unsaid. He then glanced back and forth between Rose, Jack, and their half-drunk pints of beer. "Am I late? Or did you decide to start without me?"

"I finished at the MOSI and decided to just come directly here and make sure we could snag a table before the rush and I think Jack had the same idea. Sorry, hope you don't mind that we got drinks before you got here. Honestly, I think Jack just wanted to get me buzzed to try and get me to spill the beans about our relationship." Rose was fairly certain that Jack would have attempted this if she hadn't had her own agenda.

"Wow, Rosie, you already know me too well," Jack winked.

"Well, looks like I made it just in time," Jason said.

"How was your day?" Rose asked Jason.

"Boring – department meetings, students wanting extra help with the material from class… nothing too exciting. How was the MOSI?"

"It was fun! John and Sam would have loved that place," Rose answered with a bit of melancholy. Jason reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. It was the first time Rose had mentioned her husband and daughter without getting upset or shutting down.

"What about you, Jack? How's your current case going?"

"I should have it solved by the end of the week. It's your typical business partner relationship gone bad. The things people will do for a profit!" Jack didn't go into further details. He kept his clients and their troubles in confidence and never shared details that might identify them.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm starving. What do we want to eat and I'll go place our order when I get my drink?" Jason offered. They selected a variety of pub fare, especially chips, and Jason left the table to go place their order at the bar.

When he was a safe distance away, Jack leaned forward to speak softly to Rose. "You said your alien friend had a sentient space ship that could travel through time and space?"

"Yes," Rose answered. "It was called the TARDIS – Time And Relative Dimensions in Space."

"When I arrived here ten years ago, I appeared inside Jason's ship. It was badly damaged. It had crashed in the woods outside of Shrewsbury. I can take you there tomorrow and maybe we can both get some answers."

Rose tried to calm her racing heart. Jack knew where there was a ship that was most likely the reason for their being stranded in this century. Maybe tomorrow she would final solve the mystery of Jason and his origins. "I think Jason teaches all day tomorrow, so we should have plenty of time to go and come back." Rose felt a bit guilty about sneaking around with Jack, but if it meant helping them both, not to mention her own dilemma of how to feel about Jason, it was worth it.

"Ok. Here's my card with my cellular number on it. Text me when you're ready to go in the morning and I'll come pick you up." Jack handed his business card to Rose, which she quickly stuffed in her bag.

Jason arrived back at the table and the trio began exchanging stories about Torchwood missions and client jobs Jack has done. The number of investigations where Jack ended up naked was impressive, Rose giggled. She'd expect nothing less from him.

After a couple of hours of eating greasy pub food and drinking, Jack stood up. "Well, I think it's time I left you two love birds alone. I've got my eyes on an attractive brunette at the bar who looks lonely." He waggled his eyebrows at them. Rose and Jason both turned to the bar and noticed two brunettes alone at opposite ends of the bar - a man and woman. The question was, which one was Jack referring to? Probably both, Rose thought with a smile.

As Jack sauntered away from the table, he turned back to look at Jason, "Jason, can I borrow your car tomorrow? I've got to make a quick trip south and you know how much I love your roadster."

"Sure, Jack," Jason agreed. "Come by my flat in the morning for the keys. And Jack, - no sex in the roadster."

Jack put his hand over his heart in a mock offense "I would never!" With a wink, he turned back to his mission of attracting a lonely brunette, or two.

It didn't take long for Jack to leave the bar with a brunette on each arm. He turned back to wink at Rose and Jason as he left. Jason shook his head at his friend and Rose just giggled.

Jason turned his attention back to Rose. "How about we head someplace else with a bit more privacy?"

"Sounds great," Rose answered.

Jason offered his arm to Rose and they walked out the pub towards his car. Before he bent down to open the door for Rose, Jason took her hand and turned her to look at him. "Rose," he breathed. "I have something I need to tell you." Jason took a deep breath to build his courage for what he was about to say. He looked into her eyes and confessed "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Rose's breathing hitched and she stared into his deep blue eyes. Rose wanted to return the sentiment, but she was still so confused internally about her feelings for Jason and whether she was just superimposing her love for the Doctor onto this man who was his twin in appearance. Before she could formulate a reply, Jason placed a finger over Rose's lips and continued. "You don't have to reply right now. I know it's probably too fast and I'm crazy for telling you already, but it just didn't seem right to keep it a secret."

Rose decided the best reply would be to show Jason how she felt. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her to kiss him passionately. Jason gripped Rose's hips and pulled her firmly into him. They fell backwards slightly, pressing Rose's thighs and buttocks against Jason's car. Rose could feel Jason begin to harden through their layers of clothing. When they finally separated to breathe, Jason rested his forehead on Rose's and they gazed into each other's eyes. Before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth, Rose said breathlessly, "Stay with me tonight."


	16. Chapter 16

_Before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth, Rose said breathlessly, "Stay with me tonight."_

Jason looked at Rose, questioningly. "Rose, we don't have to do anything just because of what I said." Just moments before, Jason had confessed to falling in love with Rose. It was obvious to Rose that he didn't want it to seem like his confession was his way of pressuring her into moving their physical relationship beyond snogging.

"I want you," Rose confessed. "And you're right, I don't know if I'm ready to admit that what I feel for you is love. But I know that I am ready for us to be together."

Jason smiled softly before gently kissing Rose and then reaching down to unlock and open her door.

They rode in silence the few blocks to Rose's hotel. Jason pulled up and handed over his key to the valet. He met Rose on the other side of the car and took her hand as they walked into the hotel. Neither was paying attention enough to notice the paparazzo across the street with his zoom lens, snapping pictures of their arrival.

Five minutes later, Rose unlocked her hotel room door and walked in, holding the door open for Jason. He looked around the room and remarked "Nice place. Do you always stay in hotels this posh?"

"Not usually," she admitted. "My um… travel agent booked this place for me."

"You know, I never asked… how long are you staying in Manchester?" Jason questioned.

"I don't know. My agent booked this room without a departure date. She must have known I might want to extend my stay," Rose wondered again if the TARDIS had known how her vacation in Manchester would go and who she would meet. "Well, umm... why don't you make yourself comfortable?" Rose gestured to the small sitting area. "I'm just going to freshen up a bit…" Rose ducked into the loo and shut the door.

Rose looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. She took a few minutes to empty her bladder, wash her face, and brush her teeth. Rose laughed silently at the butterflies in her stomach. You'd think she was a virgin about to have sex for the first time. A couple more deep breaths and she stepped out of the loo.

Jason stood up from the sofa and Rose noticed that he had removed his jacket, shoes, and socks. Rose walked over to sit on the sofa and Jason sat down with her. Rose began to take off her sweater, socks and shoes as well. She looked up to see Jason smiling nervously at her, although it was obvious that he was trying to look relaxed. Rose scooted closer and reached for his hand to hold. "Why don't we see what's on the telly?" She hoped a little distraction would calm both their nerves.

"Great idea," Jason answered, reaching for the remote to the flat screen that was mounted on the wall across from the sofa. Jason scrolled through the channel guide. "Oooo… A Star Trek marathon… I love that show!"

Rose giggled, "Sounds perfect."

They snuggled closer together, propping their feet up on the coffee table. Jason wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders and she rested her head on his chest. Rose took a deep breath and felt safer and more relaxed than she had in years. If it weren't for the missing hum of the TARDIS in the background, she would have thought she was 19 again and watching telly with the Doctor.

They watched a few episodes of the show, laughing at the fictional space travel concepts and aliens. After a second episode where Captain Kirk ends up kissing yet another attractive female alien, Rose suggested that the writers of the show must have used a relative of Captain Jack as inspiration.

"I don't know…" Jason said. "It seems like Captain Kirk has a certain type of alien he's attracted to. And I know for a fact that Captain Jack's type is pretty much anything sentient." Rose and Jason laughed at that.

"What about you? What's your type?" Rose asked.

"Blonde Torchwood Commanders," Jason answered, closing some of the distance between them. "You?"

"Genius university professors," Rose moved the rest of the way and their lips met. The kiss was gentle at first. Rose shifted her body so that she was straddling Jason's thighs, never separating from his lips. She then ran her tongue along his lips and he opened his mouth so that their tongues could meet in the middle. Their tongues languidly moved around each other's mouths, not rushing their exploration of each other. Rose wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, with one hand on at the back of his neck and the other combing her fingers through his short hair. Jason wrapped his arms around Rose's torso, holding her tightly to his chest.

When they separated to catch their breaths, Rose reached down to grasp the hem of her shirt to pull it over her head, but Jason stilled her hands with his. "Let me." It was more of a question than a statement. Rose nodded and he lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. He gazed at her breasts encased in a pink lace bra. "Gorgeous," he said. He reached his fingers out to lightly trace the edge of where the lace and supple skin met. His touch sent sparks to her core. His motions became braver and he moved to hold her breasts in his hands, gently kneading them with his fingers and palms. He locked his gaze with hers and didn't break the eye contact as he continued to fondle her chest. Her nipples hardened under his ministrations and he focused on them, rolling the buds with his index finger and thumb. He then replaced one hand with his mouth on one of her breasts, sucking the nipple through the fabric. The jolt of electricity shot through Rose, causing her to toss her head back and gasp at the sensation.

Once she had recovered a bit, Rose reached down to pull Jason's shirt over his head and tossed it join hers. Jason reluctantly separated from her breast only long enough to remove his shirt. As he continued to work her nipples through the fabric, Rose began moving her hips over his thighs. The wetness of her core was aching for some sort of friction.

Jason reached behind Rose and undid the clasp of her bra, removing the last obstacle to her pert breasts. Rose moaned when his mouth reattached to her now bare chest. Jason continued his adoration of her breasts for another moment until Rose reached down to rub her palm along his growing hardness. Her touch made Jason stop his worship of her breasts and look up at her face. Rose assumed he was searching for some sort of sign about whether it was safe to continue down this road. Seeing no hesitation from Rose, he reached under her thighs tightly and told her "Hold on."

Rose squeaked as Jason stood up from the sofa carrying Rose. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clutched tightly to his shoulders with her arms. Jason slowed briefly as they passed the TV to turn it off and then carried Rose to the bed. He reached over and pulled the duvet down the bed. Then he laid her down and Rose scooted backward so that she was lying in the middle of the bed, propped up on her elbows to watch Jason. She hadn't been able to admire his lean, muscular torso until now. Jason stood up and removed his jeans; Rose's gaze followed his motions, admiring his muscular thighs, partially obstructed by his black boxer briefs with a rather large tent in the middle. He noticed Rose watching him and asked "See anything you like?"

"Maybe…" she replied cheekily, with a waggle of her eyebrows. Jason smirked and leaned over like he was going to crawl across the bed, but instead, he quickly undid Rose's jeans and pulled them over her hips and down her legs until she was left wearing nothing but pink lace underwear that matched the bra that was left somewhere near the sofa.

"Blimey, you're beautiful," Jason said, his eyes raking up and down her body. Rose's heartrate accelerated hearing that phrase coming from those lips after all these years. The Doctor had told her that same thing before she stepped out into Cardiff to meet Charles Dickens. Jason crawled up the bed then, laying his body so that it was partially covering Rose's so as not to crush her completely under his weight. They returned to the kiss they had started on the sofa, only this time there was a passion and desperate need behind their movements. Rose put one hand behind Jason's head to hold his face to hers and the other ran up and down his back, enjoying the feel of his muscles rippling under her touch. Jason propped himself up on one elbow and then ran his free hand from Rose's cheek, down her neck, lightly grazing her breast before meandering lower down her side until it reached her hip.

Once his fingers reached the fabric of her knickers, Jason moved them under the waistband and toward the center of the garment. He dipped his fingers into her curls and moaned at the warm moisture he found. He ran his fingertips gently around her sensitive core, before brushing lightly against her clit. Rose gasped into his mouth and her hips jutted forward instinctively. He circled her clit a few more times before pulling back slightly to look at her face, her lips swollen from their kisses. Again he searched her face for any signs of hesitation. In response, Rose reached down to Jason's wrist, pushing his hand further into her knickers. Jason slipped one finger into her and groaned into Rose's ear "you're so wet, Rose".

Jason leaned his body more onto Rose, trapping her under him and he began to move his finger in and out of her, rubbing his thumb along her clit. Rose's moans were stifled by Jason's lips rejoining hers. Jason's lips moved down Rose's jaw and down to her neck as he added a second finger into her. Rose began to feel a tightness in her core as Jason increase the speed of his fingers. Rose's muscles began to tremble and flutter around his fingers. He moved his mouth up to her ear and whispered "Let go, Rose. Come for me." At the sound of his deep Northern voice in her ear, she toppled over the peak and screamed Jason's name, fireworks exploding behind her eyelids. Jason continued to stroke her softly as her body recovered from her orgasm. He removed his hand from her knickers and licked her juices from his fingers.

As Rose regained her composure, she looked into Jason's eyes. She pulled him down to her for another brilliant snog while her hands reached down to his waistband and began to push his boxer briefs over his hips and throbbing erection. Once his pants were off, Rose lifted her hips off the bed to remove her knickers. Rose shifted her body and opened her legs in order to cradle Jason between her thighs. The tip of his erection brushed her center and she gasped. Jason was reaching his hand down to position himself at her entrance when he suddenly froze and muttered "Shit!"

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"We need a condom," Jason explained.

Rose cupped his face so that she could look into his eyes. "I'm a field agent for Torchwood. All female agents get shots three times a year. Can't really stop a mission to stock up on supplies once a month." She smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm okay without one if you are."

"Fantastic," he grinned goofily, before focusing back on the task at hand. His hand continued the journey to his erection and positioned his head at her entrance. He paused for a moment to make eye contact and then slowly pushed into her. Rose moaned at the sensation of him filling her inch by inch. Jason stayed still for a moment as they reveled in this new level of intimacy and feeling of completeness. "Fuck, Rose, you feel so good."

After another moment, Jason began rocking his hips, thrusting slowly in and out of Rose's core. He put both forearms on either side of Rose's head and ducked down to capture her lips again with his. They kissed haphazardly with each thrust. Jason began to tilt his pelvis slightly at different angles and the movements would elicit moans from Rose. Eventually he found an angle that had Rose gasping "more, yes, harder!"

Having just witnessed Rose's orgasm, Jason increased his pace when he saw signs that she was approaching her peak again. His thrusts began to falter as he too approached the edge of orgasm. One…two… three thrusts more and Rose toppled over again, panting his name as if she was worshipping a deity. At the feel of Rose's muscles tightening around him, Jason fell over his own cliff, his cock releasing its warm fluid into Rose. Her muscles fluttered again, milking every last drop from him.

Jason collapsed on Rose as they both recovered from their mind-blowing orgasms. Rose ran her hands up and down his back, scratching lightly. He began to soften inside her when he lifted himself off of her and rolled onto his back, bringing Rose tightly against his side. "That was brilliant!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, you were." Rose smiled up at him. He chuckled and bent down to kiss her quickly before laying back down. Rose snuggled up to Jason for another minute, before moving to get out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jason asked.

"Well, someone's gotta turn out the light. And I've gotta use the loo," she explained.

"Hurry back," Jason begged. "It's lonely over here."

Rose emerged a moment later from the loo to turn out the light and climb back into bed. She nestled back into Jason's side and he wrapped his arm around her to hold her against him. She kissed his shoulder and rested her head on his chest.

"Good night, Jason."

"Good night, love."

Rose was too tired to notice the pulsing of Jason's binary vascular system under her head as she drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

It was mid-morning when Rose finally emerged from sleep. Her hotel room was bright with morning light filtering through the curtains. She smiled when she recalled waking up in the middle of night with Jason spooning her, his semi-hard erection pressed into her low back. Rose had turned in his embrace and pushed him onto his back as he woke up under her ministrations. Rose had straddled Jason and they made love again with only a sliver of moonlight filtering through the curtains.

She stretched and reached out for Jason, only to find the other half of the bed cold and empty. She looked over at his pillow and spotted a note he left for her.

 _Good morning, beautiful._

 _First of all, thank you for last night (and this morning).*wink*_

 _Second, I've got to be at the University all day today, but I hope you can join me for dinner. I'll come pick you up at 6:30._

 _All my love,_

 _Jason_

Rose smiled and reached for her phone. She sent two texts before getting out of bed to shower and dress:

To Jason: _Good morning. Looking forward to seeing you at 6:30._

To Jack: _I'll be ready to go in an hour. Meet me at the valet of the hotel._

An hour later, Jack pulled up in the familiar TARDIS-blue roadster. He smiled his trademark grin at Rose as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Good morning, gorgeous. I assume you slept as well as Jason did last night," he winked at her.

Rose gawked at Jack for a moment, "How do you know?"

"I was at Jason's flat when he got home this morning. Aside from the fact that he was wearing the same clothes as last night, albeit a bit rumbled, he had a grin like a kid in a candy store," Jack explained.

Rose blushed as Jack pulled out of the hotel and onto the road that led south to Shrewsbury.

"What happened with the brunettes last night?" Rose asked once they were on the highway out of town.

"What _didn't_ happen is an even better question," he grinned. Rose laughed and shook her head at Jack.

Rose was about to ask Jack for more details about his arrival on 21st century Earth when her phone rang.

"Shit," Rose said. "It's my mum and she wants to video chat. It's never a good sign when she wants to video chat." Rose accepted the call and held the phone out so that her mom could see her. "Hi, Mum!"

"Don't "hi mum" me, missy! Care to explain what you're doing in Manchester?"

"I don't know what you mean, Mum. You know I'm here on a forced vacation from Torchwood."

"Don't play innocent with me, Rose Marion. I want to know where the pictures of you in all the rags today came from."

"Mum, first of all, I don't read the rags, so I don't know what photos you're talking about. And second, I thought you stopped reading them too."

"Well, it's awfully hard to ignore them at the grocers when your daughter's face is all over all the covers. And snogging a bloke too!"

"What?! Show me!" Rose demanded. Jackie pointed the camera at one of the covers. There on the front was a collage of photos of Rose and Jason from the last few days. Rose realized that a photographer must have been following her. The headline read "Vitex Heiress Rose Tyler's New Beau". "Shit! Someone's been following me the last few days," Rose explained.

"WHAT?!" Jackie yelled. "You mean these photos are recent? I thought for sure someone had hacked into your computer and pulled old photos of you and the Doctor. What are you doing with himself now? How did he get here?! I'll be damned if you think you'll be swanning off with ol' big ears and leather again!"

Jack, who had been trying to keep quiet during this mother-daughter exchange, barked out a laugh at Jackie's nickname "big ears and leather". It was a fitting description of Jason.

Jackie heard Jack's laugh and gasped. "Who's that with you? Are you sneaking around with 'im now?!"

"No Mum, I'm not sneaking around with anyone. Besides, when you see who it is, I don't think you'll mind." Rose moved the camera to show Jack. Jackie squealed with delight.

"Captain Jack! Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes," Jackie remarked.

"Hello, Mrs. Tyler. It's a pleasure to meet you," he gave Jackie his trademark flirtatious grin.

Rose slapped Jack playfully on the shoulder, "Jack, stop it! That's my mum and she's happily married."

"What? I was just saying hello," he answered playfully.

"Jack, what do you mean, 'pleasure to meet me?' Don't you remember meeting me? Or has that not happened yet for you?" Jackie asked. Rose was pleased that her mum was remembering the wibbly-wobbly-ness of time travel. Rose turned the camera back to herself to try to explain, or at least delay too many explanations, until after she explored the wreckage of Jason's ship.

"Listen, Mum, I'm still not completely sure what's going on. Jack here is this universe's Jack and he's taking me out to see the wreckage of Jason's crashed ship. Jason, "old big ears and leather" as you call him, goes by "Dr. Jason Tempest" in this universe and he's been living like a human and teaching at the University of Manchester for the last decade. That's all I can tell you for now. Okay? I'm not swanning off with anyone."

Jackie appeared to be thinking through everything Rose just said. "Okay, sweetheart, just promise me you'll be careful, with your body and your heart." Rose rolled her eyes at her mum.

"Yes, Mum. I will."

"Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, too, Mum. Bye."

Rose ended the call and quickly texted Jason a warning:

To Jason: _Just learned that photos of us together made it into the tabloids today. Keep an eye out for photogs. Hope that doesn't cause you any problems today._

Jack spoke up when she was finished with her text. "Your mom is just as much a firecracker as I imagined she'd be, based on what I've heard of her in recent years."

"Yeah, she's a strong woman. She had to be all those years when it was just the two of us after my dad died when I was a baby."

"So, you said last night that you're from another universe. I've read lots of theories about alternate universes, but I thought travel between them was impossible?"

"It usually is, but there have been periods when the walls were weakened and it made travel through the void to other universes possible. I've been across the void many times during those periods. Unfortunately, after the last time, I was stranded here with my mum and my friend, the one who owned the time and space traveling ship. It's a complicated story, but he's the man I was married to for 9 years."

"I remember that story. Fairytale love, adorable daughter. I'm sorry about the accident." Jack reached over and squeezed Rose's hand.

Rose's phone beeped with a text message.

From Jason: _One of my students brought in a magazine and asked if that was me. When I said yes, he gave me a high five. My popularity has gone up a notch. [laughing emoji] Nice photos of us, though. Might frame one for my office. [heart emoji]_

Rose smiled and made a mental note to have the family photographer take better photos of them if this relationship continued.

After a few minutes of silence, Jack decided to change the subject to the reason for their trip to Shrewsbury. "So, I'm not sure what will be left of the ship when we get there. It was engulfed in flames when I arrived. I did my best to extinguish them, but it was obvious that the ship was in bad shape," Jack explained.

"How did you find it?" Rose asked.

"Well, that's the part I don't know. One minute I'm in the hottest dance club on Galaxia VII, dancing with these intoxicating triplets, when I start to glow with this golden light. Almost like nanogenes you might find on a Chula medical ship. Remind me to tell you about the con I was about to pull with one of those. Anyway….The brightness became too much, so I closed my eyes and the next time I opened them, I'm inside the console room of a ship that's engulfed in flames. I manage to extinguish the flames and discovered Jason unconscious under some heavy debris. I pulled him out of the ship and ran back inside to make sure there was no one else. The ship only had the one console room, so it didn't take me long to determine that Jason was alone. Just as I was about to exit, the center console made a strange noise, almost like a strangled alarm and there appeared a large envelope with my name on it."

Jack then reached into his bag on the floor behind Rose's passenger seat and pulled out a tattered brown envelope. As Rose opened the envelope, Jack continued his story. "The letter inside tells me very little about Jason, who he is and how he came to be here, but it does at least explain why I ended up here." Rose looked inside the envelope and gasped. Inside there was a sonic screwdriver, identical to her Doctor's sonic and a folded piece of paper. Rose carefully removed the paper to read the message, written in a beautiful calligraphy that closely resembled Gallifreyan writing:

 _My Dear Captain,_

 _I am sorry to have pulled you here across time and space, but I am desperate. My pilot is the sole survivor of a terrible war that consumed our universe. Between the war and our crossing the Void, I am badly damaged beyond repair. I searched through hundreds of thousands of universes looking for someone who would one day heal my pilot's broken heart over the loss of his people and the countless life forms in our universe. Unfortunately, I arrived too early in this timeline for his savior to help him yet. She too must suffer great losses before she can be whole enough to help him._

 _He will not survive on his own with his memories intact. For this reason, I have altered his memories. He believes he is a human from this time, Dr. Jason Tempest, a war veteran of this planet, where the two of you met and became the most loyal of friends. He is to start his new job as a University professor in Manchester in two weeks. You have started your own business as a private investigator. Your vortex manipulator will allow you to travel short distances in time and space, to aid you in your investigations, but it will no longer work well enough to take you home. I am sorry for such extremes, but I feel it is necessary to protect my beloved pilot. Across all the universes I visited, you were always bound to meet each other eventually; I hope this knowledge provides you with some comfort._

 _I have established identities for you both, bank accounts, and all other documents you need to begin your lives here. I ask that you watch out for him and care for the two objects inside this envelope._

 _When the time is right, my pilot will meet his savior, the one person in all the universes who could possibly save him from himself. He must learn to accept himself and the role he played in the Time War and he must learn to love again and be loved in return before his memories can be unlocked._

 _Good luck and goodbye, Captain. And thank you._

 _T.A.R.D.I.S._

Rose read the letter over again, wiping the tears that had escaped her eyes. She knew how much the TARDIS cared for the Doctor and his companions, but it was a staggering and wonderful thing to have such physical evidence as the letter in her hand. Rose pulled out the sonic and held it gently in her grasp.

After a few moments of silent crying, Rose took a deep breath to calm herself and asked "What happened to the second object?"

"Oh…" Jack dug around in his coat pocket before handing her a battered leather wallet. "Here. It's…

"psychic paper" they said in unison.

"Yeah, once I mastered using that, it has proven quite helpful in my investigations," Jack explained. He let Rose inspect the items again before asking, "So, based on your reaction, it seems all this is familiar to you?"

"Yes and no. It certainly helps answer some of my initial questions," Rose answered. She now knew what gaps were missing in Jack's understanding of Jason's origins. "Jason is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in an alternate universe. Time Lords and their planet don't exist in this universe. In my original universe, there was a great war, called the Time War, between Time Lords and Daleks that spanned across time and space. The Daleks were evil, killing and destroying anything that wasn't a Dalek. The parallel version of Jason, a Time Lord known as the Doctor, ended the Time War by destroying both Time Lords and Daleks alike but saved the universe. When I met him, he was a broken man who didn't care if he lived or died. He was the last of his kind. He saved my life the day we met, and then I saved his and he asked me to travel with him…"

Rose took a deep breath and continued her story, telling Jack about their travels, including the adventures where his parallel joined them. She was about to tell him about the Game Station and regeneration when Jack pulled off onto a dirt road and parked the car. "We'll have to walk from here. It's about another mile to the west."

As they walked through the wooded area west of Shrewsbury, Rose told Jack about the Game Station and how she had looked into the heart of the TARDIS in order to get back to the Doctor and save him. Just as the ground sloped toward a small stream, Rose heard the familiar hum in the back of her mind. They were getting close to the TARDIS now and Rose knew that at least the TARDIS wasn't dead.

"There it is," Jack pointed to a gray cylinder in the middle of a grove of trees near the water's edge. Rose recognized this as the TARDIS' default exterior. The ship's power must be low if she can't maintain any other appearance, Rose surmised.

Rose approached the TARDIS and reached a hand out to caress its walls. The hum grew slightly louder and Rose telepathically sent her greetings to the ship. She reached for the door only to discover that it was locked. She dug into her pocked and pulled out her TARDIS key, hoping some universal locksmith had keyed the ships the same. Rose's key glided easily into the lock and turned. Inside, the ship was completely dark. The tiny console room was similar in appearance to the coral design of her Doctor's TARDIS when she first started traveling with him, only the size was significantly smaller.

Rose removed a torch from her bag and moved slowly into the console room with Jack close behind. Just as she approached the console, the faint green glow began to pulse from the time rotor.

"Hello, old girl," Rose said as she stroked the coral of the console. "I'm glad to see you're still hanging in." The time rotor pulsed differently and Rose felt the soft hum of affirmation in her head.

Jack looked on in amazement. "So, she really is sentient? She must be one strong ship to still have some juice left in her after all these years." Jack reached out to stroke the coral as he had seen Rose do. Rose felt the TARDIS reach out to Jack's mind and send him a pulse of gratitude.

Just as Rose was circling the console, not sure what she was looking for, an image, like the one Rose remembered from Emergency Program One appeared. The image was that of Sarah Jane Smith, one of the Doctor's former companions whom Rose had met while traveling with the Doctor in her original universe.

"Hello, dear Wolf."

Rose gasped, "Sarah Jane?"

"No, I am the ship you call the TARDIS. I selected this image from you memories, knowing that this person is someone whose image you would trust and would bring you comfort," the image explained.

"You called me 'Wolf'. How do you know about that?"

"The words of the goddess echoed through the Void as I traveled in search of a new home from my pilot. It is you who I landed here to find. You saved my pilot in your home universe and I know you can do so again."

"What happened in your universe? Didn't Jason end the Time War?"

"Jason hesitated too long. By the time he decided to end the war, it was too late. The High Council had ignored the prophecies of the destruction of the universe at the hands of the Daleks. Rassilon had tampered with The Moment and it failed to work as Jason had expected. Rassilon refused to admit defeat at the hands of their arch enemy."

Rose thought for a moment, recalling all the details about the Time War that John had told her over the years. One question burned through her thoughts. "The Doctor from my universe was riddled with guilt because he had used the Moment to end the war and the lives of all those on Gallifrey, despite saving the rest of the universe in the process. If the Moment didn't work for Jason, why did you need to hide his memories?"

The image of Sarah Jane smiled brightly at Rose, "Brilliant, Wolf. Always asking the right questions. My pilot is a parallel version of your Doctor. Although many of their decisions and actions are the same, there are still some that are different. My pilot avoided intervening in the war for much longer than your Doctor. He felt guilt and shame over not trying to help his people fight sooner. He believed his delay is what caused the war to take such a tragic turn. But, he could not see that the collapse of our universe became a fixed point. As you know, a fixed point cannot be changed, but the life of one person could be rescued, which is why I saved my pilot by bringing him here."

"Did he go by the name "Doctor" in your universe?" Rose asked.

"Yes," the image explained, "and his Gallifreyan name is also the same. That name is burned in your heart and when the time is right, you can use it to unlock his memories. But a warning: do not say his name too soon or his mind will burn with the screams of the dead of our universe. He must be strong enough to endure that pain and only your strength and love can help him."

The image of Sarah Jane flickered, as did the light from the time rotor. The image spoke again, "I'm sorry, Wolf, but the last of my energy is depleting."

"You're dying?" Rose gasped, moving forward as if to embrace the image. Sarah Jane smiled longingly at Rose.

"Yes," Sarah Jane replied. "I have rested here for over ten Earth years, saving my energy for this moment. I was worried that I would die before I could meet you, but I am so glad that you are here now. You are my pilot's savior and I can die content in knowing that you will care for him long after I am gone." Sarah Jane then turned to Jack, "Captain Jack, thank you for watching over my beloved pilot all these years. I knew you would not let me down." She waved her hand in front of her and continued, "Your vortex manipulator will function correctly now. You are free to return to the life you once led. May my love and eternal gratitude follow you always." Jack smiled and bowed to the image.

The image began to fade, but the voice could still be heard echoing in the small room, "My dying wish is for my pilot to be happy and loved for his forever. Wolf, please take my heart and give it to my sister, your TARDIS. She will know what to do with it. Goodbye, and thank you."

The light from the console dimmed and Rose moved forward to see that the console had opened wide enough for Rose to reach inside and remove the small glowing crystal that contained what remained of the heart of the TARDIS. Rose felt a warmth emanating out of the crystal and into her very soul, a warmth that she hadn't felt since the Game Station. She stroked the crystal and wiped the tears that streaked her face. Then she tucked the crystal carefully into her bag before turning and following Jack out the door. When she turned back, the gray cylinder now appeared to be nothing but an empty shell. It was no longer bigger on the inside. Rose watched the TARDIS for a moment, sending a silent prayer of gratitude to the multiverse for the ship's existence and her devotion to her pilot.

Rose and Jack walked in silence back to the car and returned to the road that would lead them back to Manchester. After a while, Jack spoke up, "So, if the man you were married to, John Noble, was the pilot of the TARDIS in your Universe and the parallel version of Jason, why don't they look alike?"

"Time Lords can regenerate. It's their way of cheating death," Rose explained. She then spent the rest of the ride to Manchester finishing her story about her travels with the Doctor, starting with his regeneration after the Game Station until she finished her story with the instantaneous biological metacrisis that created her husband, John, and their arrival in this universe at BadWolfBay.

It was mid-afternoon when Jack finally parked the car near Rose's hotel. "I don't know about you, but I could murder a cuppa," Rose announced as she emerged from the car and stretched her legs.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Jack agreed. "How about we get something to eat and drink at the café in your hotel lobby? Hopefully that will put us far enough away from the photographers who are no doubt set up in front of the hotel."

"Good point," Rose said. "Wouldn't want tomorrow's headline to say "Vitex Heiress' New New Beau"," she laughed.

"Better yet, "Vitex Heiress in Love Triangle with American Hunk"," Jack suggested with a wink, sending Rose into a fit of giggles.

#################

 _NOTES: So - I'm new to the Who-verse. I only started watching Nine, Ten, and Eleven (never could get into Twelve, but I blame the writing) about 14 months ago. So, forgive me if my knowledge of all things Doctor Who is remedial, at best. I've read in other works that Time Lords only existed in the Prime Universe, but I have a hard time believing that, thus the idea that Jason is a parallel Doctor._


	18. Chapter 18

Rose and Jack entered the hotel separately and reunited in the hotel café. They ordered a few items to share along with their tea.

"What do you know about Jason's memories the TARDIS gave him?" Rose asked after placing their order.

"Jason has never wanted to talk about it much," Jack explained. "I don't think he ever opened up to Lynda either. One night, not long after I was brought here to watch over him, he got drunk. He broke down and sobbed about a village that he could have saved if he hadn't been such a coward. He mumbled something about innocent women and children. Other than that, I don't know what memories the TARDIS gave him. I suggested once that he see a therapist, but he never did. He was too proud to admit that he might need professional help. And I think he assumes I know the details about what happened because he thinks we were in the military together."

"Well, at least that gives me a place to start," Rose noted. After a few moments lost in thought, Rose shook herself from her thoughts of how to help Jason, and changed the subject. "Well, now that I know the truth, I'd love to know more about you, Jack. Got any stories from before your arrival here?"

"Well, there was this one time on Trividia Prime when…" Jack began.

"Preferably a story where you don't end up naked and in a compromising position," Rose grinned.

"Aw, Rosie! Where's the fun in that?!" Jack laughed.

The time passed quickly as Rose and Jack sat in the café laughing and enjoying their newfound friendship. During a brief lull in the conversation, Rose glanced at her watch and realized she had an hour to get cleaned up and ready to meet Jason for dinner.

"Thanks for today, Jack," Rose said, reaching out to put her hand on his in a platonic gesture. "For taking me to see Jason's TARDIS and for the laughs this afternoon. I've missed the friendship I had with my Jack, and I hope that this is the beginning of our own friendship."

"I'd like that too, Rosie," Jack replied, placing his free hand on top of hers. Rose was truly happy to have found the parallel version of her best mate. Between her blossoming relationship with Jason and this new friendship with Jack, Rose hadn't felt so relaxed and happy in a long time. As she smiled at Jack, she noticed movement in the doorway between the café and the hotel lobby. She tilted her head to the side to get a better look and saw the young woman she recognized from the front desk pointing in her direction. Standing next to her was Jason, holding a bouquet of flowers and gold box, presumably containing chocolates. Rose wondered why Jason was early, but was happy to see him nonetheless. She smiled and waved her free hand at him. He smiled goofily back and began to walk towards her when he suddenly froze, looking down at the table where her hands were clasped in Jack's hands.

And then it happened…Jack turned his head to see who Rose was waving too. The Oncoming Storm raged across in Jason's face when he saw Jack. Jason stared unbelieving for a moment before he quickly turned and stormed out of the café.

"Shit!" Rose said, jumping out of her seat to follow Jason. If he was anything like her Doctor, Jason's jealous tendencies would be over the top and Rose was sure this was proof of that. "Jason, wait!" She called out to him, but he was already gone. She followed his trail out into the lobby and out the front doors of the hotel. Flash bulbs and shutter clicks swirled around her, but Rose didn't care. She had to catch up to Jason before he got too far away. Rose saw Jason walking swiftly away, throwing the flowers and chocolates into a rubbish bin he passed. She ran to catch up to him. "Jason, STOP!" Rose yelled.

Jason froze, not turning around to look at her, but instead speaking to her over his shoulder, "What do you want, Rose?"

Now, fully aware of the front row seats the photographers had to this interaction between the pair of lovers, Rose pleaded, "Let's go back inside, yeah? So we can talk?"

Jason was about to reply when Jack's footsteps jogged up from behind Rose. "Jason, buddy, what's going on?"

In a flash, Jason spun around, his right fist connecting loudly with Jack's jaw, sending Jack collapsing to the pavement in pain. "Don't you DARE call me your 'buddy'!" Jason growled.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Jack yelled from the pavement. Flash bulbs blinded the trio with growing intensity.

Jason ignored Jack's question and turned to Rose. "You know, for the first time in my life, I thought maybe the universe had finally decided to be kind to me. This last week has been the happiest of my life, but now I see that it meant nothing to you. I don't know why I thought someone as wonderful as you could want to be with someone like me. Good bye, Rose. Have a fantastic life."

Before Rose could respond, Jason turned on his heels and jogged away. Rose knew she should follow Jason, but he needed his time to brood. John always denied it, but Time Lords liked to brood and pout, especially this leather-wearing version. She decided to give Jason his space and instead helped Jack up and brought him back into the hotel to take a look at his jaw.

In her hotel room, Rose got a bottle of vodka from the mini-fridge and handed it to Jack, who quickly opened the tiny bottle and downed it in one gulp. Rose laughed, "That wasn't for you to drink. You're supposed to put it on our face like an icepack. But, I guess either way will numb the pain a bit." Rose took out her sonic and adjusted the settings. "Well, nothing broken," she told him.

"Except my pride," Jack replied. "My ass knocked to the ground by my best friend will be all over tomorrow's covers."

"Well, at least it's a nice ass," Rose laughed. "Let's see what we can do about those bruises," Rose said, as she adjusted the sonic and ran it over Jack's face for a few minutes.

"I guess I should have seen this coming," Jack explained. "He's always been the jealous type. Just never imagined his jealous rage would be pointed at me."

"Don't worry about it, Jack. We'll get it sorted. If there's one thing I know about jealous Time Lords, it's how to make that work in my favor." Rose said with a wink. "After we've got these bruises taken care of, I'll head over to his flat and try to talk some sense into him. He needs time to brood for a bit before he'll be in any condition to listen to reason."

"I'll go with you. After all, I have to return his car to him." Jack grinned.

As Rose worked the sonic over Jack's jaw, she chewed her bottom lip thinking over everything Jason's TARDIS had told her. Jason's universe was gone and he needed Rose to help save him from himself. Rose couldn't help but notice how once again, her job was to help yet another Doctor heal from the psychological wounds sustained in battle. In the end, she realized that she loved the Doctor, whether it was her first Doctor, her regenerated Doctor, her metacrisis husband, or a parallel Doctor. She loved them all, and soon it would be time to tell him for the first time. Again.

An hour later, Rose and Jack pull up to Jason's flat. A handful of photographers were camped outside. "I'll take care of the photographers, Rosie. You focus on Jason."

Jack escorted Rose to Jason's front door and then turned around to distract on the photographers. Rose knocked on the door, ignoring Jack's persuasive conversations with the photographers behind her, trying to convince them to give Rose and Jason some space.

"Jason, it's Rose."

Nothing.

She knocked again, "Come on, Jason, it's me. Open up."

Nothing.

"Please, come open the door. I know you're in there."

Nothing.

"If you don't open this door, I'll just let myself in."

Nothing.

Rose activated the sonic in her pocket and heard the lock click open. She opened the door just wide enough to sneak in. She closed and locked the door behind her. "Jason?"

Jason appeared in the doorway to his bedroom, his face flat and emotionless, but the anger and betrayal behind his eyes made Rose's heart ache.

"How did you…?" Jason started.

"Sonic," Rose explained, holding the sonic up as evidence.

Jason shook his head and mumbled, "I've gotta get me one of those." After a moment's pause, he looked back up at Rose, "What are you doing here, Rose?"

"I want to talk to you."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Like hell there isn't," Rose raised her voice a bit. She expected him to be stubborn, but that didn't mean she wouldn't get a bit frustrated about it. "Don't tell me that you think you can punch your best mate, tell me to have a 'fantastic life' and then run off and I'll just let you go." Rose paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Look… if you don't want to talk, that's fine. But I've got things to say and you're going to listen."

Rose walked over to stand in front of Jason, who stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall of the hallway. "I don't know what you think you saw back there in the café, but here's what it was. Last night, Jack told me about a crashed alien ship he knew about near Shrewsbury and I asked him to take me to see it. That's my job, remember? And when we got back from Shrewsbury, I asked Jack to have a cuppa with me. He's your best mate and I wanted to get to know him better. If you're going to be an important part of my life, then I ought to know your friends a bit better, yeah?"

Rose took a step closer to Jason. Rose continued, "Sure, Jack is attractive, an insatiable flirt, and probably an impressive shag," Jason arched an eyebrow at Rose and she saw the storm brewing again in his eyes. "But I don't want Jack. I want you," Rose said with a fierce determination in her voice. She squared her shoulders and reached her hands out to grasp Jason by his biceps. She used all her strength to push him flat against the wall and his arms flew out to his sides to steady himself. His eyes grew wide at the unexpected aggression from Rose and his pupils began to darken with lust. She pressed her body flush against Jason's, pinning him in place. Rose jabbed her index finger three times into his chest to emphasize her next words. "I…. am…. yours."


	19. Chapter 19

_Rose jabbed her index finger three times into his chest to emphasize her next words. "I…. am…. yours."_

Jason's pupils dilated as he processed her words. A growl rolled out from his chest and in a fraction of a second, he grabbed Rose by her hips and reversed their positions, pinning Rose to the wall instead. "Mine," he growled, before devouring her mouth with his.

To say this kiss was intense was an understatement. Rose knew her assertive tactic would work, she just hadn't realized how well. She always imagined her leather-clad Doctor would be a more aggressive lover, but hadn't imagined just how much more until now. Rose loved John and their gentle lovemaking. At times, passion might have led to more adventurous positions, but they never did anything as carnal as shag against a wall. Desire surged through Rose as she realized that this particular fantasy might become a reality in this very moment.

Rose opened her mouth in an attempt to meet Jason's frantic kisses. Their lips and tongues fought for dominance. Jason pushed his legs between Rose's forcing her feet wider apart and onto her tiptoes. Rose raised one leg up to Jason's hip, just as he rolled his pelvis against hers. The bulge in the front of his jeans rubbed against Rose's center at just the right angle to elicit a moan from her. Rose was beginning to feel the desperate burning need for oxygen when Jason released her mouth to move to her neck. He reached for her blouse and yanked hard, causing the seam to tear and give Jason better access. He latched on and bit and sucked at her pulse point, leaving a mark that would send a clear message to Jack and any other man that Rose was his.

Jason's mouth returned to Rose's as he rolled his hips against Rose's center again. Rose reached behind Jason, grabbing his bum and encouraging him to continue the motions of his pelvis. Jason's hands were not idle during all of this. He reached up to the tear in her shirt and pulled again, stretching the tear almost to her navel. He slid his hands inside her now torn blouse to grab her breasts, squeezing and pulling the mounds until the nipples ached tightly against the satin fabric. Rose's moans grew louder as the heat pooled in her center. She could feel the wetness growing and knew she would be ready for Jason as soon as the barriers of clothing were out of the way.

Rose reached between them to begin undoing her jeans. Just as she began to lower her jeans and panties from her hips, Jason reached down to do the same with his. Rose had managed to get one leg free of her clothing when Jason grabbed her hands and held them above her head, pinning her against the wall, with his hard erection trapped between their torsos. "Mine," he growled again. He held Rose's hands against the wall with one hand while the other traveled down between them. Knowing what Jason was about to do, Rose returned one leg back to Jason's hip, giving him better access to her wet heat. Jason positioned himself at her entrance and pushed into her, all the way to hilt. Jason didn't wait for Rose to adjust to him. He pulled all the way out and slammed back into her, again growling "Mine."

"Yours," Rose responded breathlessly. She lifted up her other leg and wrapped both around Jason's waist, grabbing his shoulders to give them both better leverage. Jason set a relentless pace, thrusting in and out of Rose quickly chasing his release. Although the position was a bit more awkward than Rose had imagined, it was no less hot and Rose's orgasm was approaching fast. Jason's pace was beginning to falter and Rose wasn't far behind. Jason's eyes were black with lust when he looked at Rose.

Jason's body went rigid as he climaxed, buried deep inside Rose. Feeling his wet seed was all Rose needed to reach her own completion, her heels digging into Jason's back side, holding him inside her until their bodies relaxed. Jason's knees gave way and they collapsed onto the floor with Rose's legs still wrapped around him and Jason's face buried in Rose's neck next to the mark he had left on her skin.

As their breathing returned to normal, Jason began to shake his head and mutter, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Shocked by his refrain, Rose cupped his cheeks, bringing his gaze up to meet hers. She saw an immense sadness and remorse behind his icy blue eyes.

"What? What are you apologizing for?" Rose asked gently.

"For this. For shagging you against a wall like some animal," Jason explained.

"Don't apologize. I wanted this," Rose explained.

Jason simply shook his head and refused to meet Rose's eyes. "Don't you dare!" Rose's voice began to rise in her frustration. "Don't you dare try to shut me out again."

"Rose," Jason continued to look away as he spoke. "You deserve so much better than me. I may appear to be a normal bloke… no… scratch that… a genius bloke. But I'm a broken man. If you knew the things that I have done; the innocent people who have died because of me, you'd run away right now. You're better off without me, Rose"

With her hands still cupping his cheeks, Rose forced Jason to look at her. "Jason, I know about your time in the military. I know about the women and children and all the innocent lives that were lost."

Jason's eyes grew wide at Rose's confession. Rose continued, "But I don't care. You are not a coward. And you cannot shoulder the burden for all the lives lost in the war. You are only one man. We've all done things we regret; people have died because of my decisions too. My dreams were once haunted by the dead. Sometimes, they still are. But we have to live on in their place so that their deaths are not in vain."

For the first time in a long time, Rose listened to her own words and finally felt forgiveness for herself. And she hoped that Jason did too.

Jason rested his head on Rose's shoulder, burying his face into her neck, and began to sob. Rose rubbed soothingly up and down his back to comfort him as silent tears ran down her face. They stayed in each other's embrace until Jason's sobs began to calm. Just as Jason lifted his head to look at Rose, they heard the front door unlock and Jack stuck his head in.

"If you two love birds are done shaggin' and makin' up, I just thought you'd like to know that the photographers are gone. But, they're expecting you both for a photo op tomorrow at noon the botanical gardens," Jack explained.

"Thanks, Jack," Rose said.

"So… I'm just going to go now. That is, unless you two need a little help making up…" Jack added.

"Goodbye, Jack!" Jason called out.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Jack announced. "I'll leave the keys to your car here on the table." They heard the door close and lock behind Jack before they attempted to get up off the floor.

Jason looked sheepishly at Rose's torn blouse. "Can I borrow a shirt?" Rose asked.

"Sure…help yourself," Jason said. "I'll just go make us a cuppa."

"Sounds great. And maybe call for take away? I think I worked up an appetite," Rose winked at Jason as she turned to go into his room to find a jumper she could wear, swaying her hips as she went. She knew that Jason wouldn't be able to tear his eyes away from her retreating form.

Rose emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later just as Jason finished ordering Chinese from a nearby restaurant. Rose didn't miss how Jason had placed the order in fluent Mandarin. When he saw that Rose had found his purple jumper to put on, and seemingly nothing else, his jaw dropped.

"Blimey," he exclaimed. "I'll never look at that jumper the same. Looks way better on you." Rose smiled and settled down on the sofa. Jason came over and sat next to her and Rose cuddled into his side. "I'm sorry about early. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did when I saw you and Jack."

"It's okay. And you owe Jack an apology more than me," Rose admitted. She turned in his embrace and looked him in the eye. "Please don't ever doubt how I feel about you." Jason nodded and kissed Rose in reply.

The doorbell rang a short while later and Jason got up to answer the door while Rose went to the kitchen to open a bottle of wine. They settled back on the sofa, curled up together to eat their Chinese food and drink their wine. Periodically they would feed each other, giggling when mouthfuls of rice or noodles would end up in their laps rather than their mouths. The sun was setting outside and cast a warm glow on the room. As the room darkened, they didn't bother turning on more lights. Instead, they savored the evening wrapped in the moon's glow and their love for each other.

Jason and Rose made love that night, worshipping each other's bodies as if it was the first time. They held each other in the afterglow, falling asleep in each other's arms. The nightmares didn't come that night for either of them. But in reality, the real nightmare was about to begin.


	20. Chapter 20

The next morning, Jason and Rose showered together and then made their way back to Rose's hotel room so that Rose could change her clothes and get her hair and makeup ready for the impromptu photoshoot that Jack had promised the photographers the day before. True to their word, the paparazzi had left them alone all evening and the next morning.

They arrived at the botanical gardens just before noon and spotted Jack immediately. He grinned giddily at the pair of lovers as he led them into the garden to a picturesque spot surrounded by photographers waiting to get the perfect shot. They posed for photos and walked through the gardens for candids for over an hour. Some of the photographers began to leave the garden after taking their fill of shots while others lingered. Rose and Jason did their best to ignore the constant hum of camera shutters and Jack stayed back out of the way.

Just as Rose was about suggest that they conclude the photo op, the cacophony of camera noises was interrupted by a familiar man's voice.

"Hello, Rose."

Rose turned to see Maxwell Alter approaching them. "Max?" Rose answered, glancing around looking for other members of his Torchwood team. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, Rose. It's time to go back to London." Max responded dryly.

"What's going on, Max? Am I needed back at Torchwood?" Warning bells seemed to go off in Rose's head and she stiffened when Max approached them. She felt Jason reach his arm around her and clutch her hip tightly, obviously noticing Rose's tension.

"No, it's just me this time, and I'm taking you home. It's time to stop fooling around with this… _professor_ ," he growled at Jason and then looked back at Rose.

The photographers that had begun to lose interest in the couple were suddenly reanimated, swapping out memory sticks and film rolls preparing to take photos of the scene that instinct told them was about to play out – a lover's triangle, perhaps.

"Max, I don't know what you're on about, but I'm not going anywhere and I'm certainly not going with you." Rose squared her shoulders and stared at Max, daring him to try something.

Max reached behind his back and withdrew a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband. "I knew you'd make this difficult on me, Rose." He said as he pointed the weapon in her direction. Rose, Jason, and the photographers all took a step backward. Only Jack, who was still a ways off, walked cautiously forward from behind the group, out of Max's line of sight. "No one at Torchwood would tell me where you went. Finally I saw your photo with Dr. Big-Ears over here and knew where I'd find you."

"Oi!" Jason responded, offended over the big-ears comment.

Max ignored Jason's outburst and continued his rant. "All these years, I've tried to get you to notice me. But noooo…. You only ever had eyes for John. And then when he died, I thought, 'Yes! I'm finally going to get my happy ending! The Universe was smiling at me' But you still ignored me, Rose. I've wanted to be with you since the first day I met you but you've never even looked at me twice. And now you've run off and found yourself another Dr. Bookworm. You've hardly known him a week! I've known you for years! Well, I'm tired of it, Rose. I'm so damned tired of chasing you. And if I can't have you, then no one can."

Max's finger moved imperceptibly over the trigger and Rose's perception of the flow of time slowed. She saw the muscles in Max's right index finger ripple and contract as he squeezed the trigger. As the bullet raced toward Rose, Jason's large form began to eclipse her sight of the scene in front her. Just before Jason's body obscured her view, she saw Jack jump from the crowd to tackle Max to the ground. Rose reached out in an effort to move Jason out of the path of bullet, but he easily overpowered her. Rose felt as if she was moving against a rip current, using every ounce of energy her muscles could process and making no progress to move. Jason's body jolted at the impact of the bullet and he collapsed backward slowly into Rose's waiting arms. She lowered him as gently as she could to ground. As soon as his body relaxed into the grass, time resumed its frenzied pace. Rose was once again aware of the chaos around her, but her senses narrowed on the bullet wound that was now allowing copious amounts of blood to ooze out and soak Jason's jumper.

"Oh god, no! Jason, stay with me. Please, don't you dare try to leave me now," Rose said as she gathered the hem of Jason's jumper to put pressure on the wound. Rose fumbled in her pocket and pulled out her superphone that was now streaked with blood. She pressed the red button on the side and spoke the command "Initiate emergency program one, authorization 6-7-5-Delta-2." Five seconds passed and then a voice spoke over the speaker.

"Emergency program one activated, Commander Tyler. How many to transmat?"

"Two to transmat to Torchwood triage from my location. Human and Gallifreyan bio-signatures," Rose called out.

"Confirmed, Commander. I have a lock on your location. Transmat in 10 seconds," the voice confirmed.

Remembering the threat that caused this situation in the first place and Jack's effort to stop Max, Rose glanced up. Jack had successfully tackled Max and had him face down on the ground, handcuffed with Jack's knee digging into his back. "Jack!" she called out.

"It's okay, Rosie. I've got him subdued. You focus on Jason," he glanced down at the wounded form who had used his body to protect Rose from the bullet.

Rose nodded and called "I'll send back up," as she faded from sight.

Rose and Jason appeared seconds later on the floor of triage at Torchwood. Dr. Sullivan and his medical team were standing nearby with Gallifreyan biology data projected on the wall. Although neither of them ever thought the information would be necessary, Rose was glad that John had programmed Gallifreyan data into the medical database at Torchwood. They knew that Gallifrey didn't exist in this universe, but the biological similarities to other species might prove useful information.

The adrenaline pumping through Rose helped her recover quickly from the disorientation the transmat always caused.

"Commander Tyler, are you hurt?" a triage nurse raced forward to assess the two patients who had just appeared.

"No, I'm fine. It's Jason," Rose nodded her head down at Jason's bloodied body. As she spoke, Jake and Pete rushed into the room. "He's been shot by a Torchwood issued .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol at short range." Rose explained.

"Torchwood issued?!" exclaimed Jake.

Without taking her eyes of Jason, Rose replied, "It was Max. He ambushed us in the Manchester Botanical Gardens." The nurses and Dr. Sullivan moved Jason's body to a gurney and began taking vitals and starting IVs.

"Maxwell Alter?" Pete questioned. "What the hell was he doing there?"

"He said he came to bring me home and a bunch of other bullshit. Jack managed to wrestle him to the ground, but not before he managed to take a shot at us. Jason jumped in front of the bullet that was meant for me."

"I'll take Field Team Alpha to Rose's last location to take Max into custody and clean up the scene," Jake immediately jumped into action.

"Take Team Delta too," Rose said. "There were at least a dozen photographers who witnessed the shooting and transmat. You'll want to confiscate the photos and retcon them."

"Got it," replied Jake and he turned and left.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rose?" Pete questioned, looking at her blood-stained clothes.

"I'm fine. I'm not injured." Rose answered quickly.

"The bullet punctured Jason's left heart and his right heart is starting to fail from the extra effort," explained Dr. Sullivan. "I'm taking him back to the OR to repair the damage before both hearts fail."

"Be sure to review the list of medications his biology can't tolerate," Rose reminded the doctor. "And if he starts to glow golden colored energy, get everyone back immediately because that means he's regenerating." Rose voice echoed down the hall as the medical team rushed Jason's lifeless body into the operating room. Dr. Sullivan nodded and quickly followed his medical team while Rose watched helplessly.

Pete came up next to Rose and wrapped her in a hug. "He's in good hands, Rose. If he's anything like his parallel self, he's strong. He'll be right as rain in no time." Rose relaxed into his embrace and silently prayed to any deity that would listen that Jason be okay.


	21. Chapter 21

**_I'm posting a little early today. Unfortunately, the next week is going to be a bit busy, so I probably won't post another chapter for a week. But, hopefully you'll feel better about things after you read this update. There are only 5 or so more chapters to the story, so things will be resolved eventually._**

#######

Rose took a seat in the waiting area and Pete returned to his office after Rose refused to leave the medical floor. An hour later, Jackie rushed into the room and wrapped Rose in a fierce hug.

"Oh, sweetheart," Jackie said. "Pete told me what happened to himself… well, his parallel self. How is he?"

"Still in surgery," Rose replied. Rose buried her face into her mother's neck and sobbed. "He took a bullet for me, Mum. He can't die! I just found him again and he can't die! The multiverse can't take him from me again!"

"There, there," Jackie comforted Rose. "He won't die. He's too stubborn to do anything that stupid." Jackie offered her daughter a tissue and looked at her face, assessing the state in which her daughter sat there. "Have you had anything to eat today?"

"Nothing since breakfast," Rose answered.

"Do you have a change of clothes around here?"

"In my office, I always keep extra clothes up there."

"Well, I imagine he'll be in surgery for a bit longer and knowing you, you're not going to want to leave his side for the foreseeable future, so I'll just go up to your office and pick out some fresh clothes and then stop in the cafeteria to get you something to eat, yeah?" Jackie offered, but it was clear that Rose had no choice but to accept. Rose nodded wordlessly.

"Good," said Jackie. "And I'll get that Ianto bloke to bring down a good cuppa for you."

Jackie left and true to her word, Ianto arrived shortly after with a large cup of coffee in his hands and Rose's clothes. "Your mum said to bring these to you," Ianto explained. "Why don't you step inside the bathroom across the hall and I'll wait here while you change. I'll come get you if Dr. Sullivan comes out."

"Thanks, Yan," Rose replied. Rose hesitated a moment, glancing toward the door that led to the hallway and then quickly walked to the ladies' room across the hall. Rose took an inventory of herself in the mirror. Her clothing and hands were stained with blood. A smear of blood, tears, and mascara ran down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hands shook as the adrenaline was leaving her body finally. Rose began scrubbing away the stains from her hands and face. She lingered a moment at the sink to let the cool running water soothe both her physical and emotional aches. After a while, she dried her hands and then carefully removed the stained clothing, noting places on her stomach and chest where the blood had seeped in and stained her skin there as well. Rose scrubbed away the blood from her torso and put on her dry clothes. She felt a tiny bit better physically. Rose collected the bloodied clothing and paper towels, remembering John's instructions to incinerate anything with Time Lord DNA on it. Rose then returned to the waiting area. Ianto stood up when Rose walked in.

"The nurse said Dr. Sullivan is closing up Jason's chest and will be out in about an hour to give you an update," Ianto explained.

Rose released a ragged breath. So far, Jason had survived the surgery. That had to be a good sign, right? "Thanks, Yan."

"Any time, Rose. Can I get you anything else?"

Rose shook her head and took her seat again and Ianto left the room, holding the door open for Jackie who was laden down with a tray of food.

"Here we are, sweetheart," Jackie said as she set the tray down on a side table. Rose and her mother sat in silence as Rose picked at the food Jackie had brought her.

When it is clear that Rose wasn't going to eat any more, Jackie asked, "So, why don't you tell me the story about Jason, yeah?"

"I'd like to hear that as well," Pete said as he walked into the waiting area. "But first, I thought you'd like to know that Jake took care of everything. Max is in custody and the photographers are now blissfully unaware of what transpired."

"Good," Rose sighed. "I hope Jake didn't have too much trouble."

"No," replied Pete. "Sounds like Captain Harkness was a big help." The smirk on Pete's face revealed that there was probably more to that story and she'd have to ask about it later. "So, what's the story with the Time Lord who, for all intents and purposes, saved your life a few hours ago?"

Rose took a deep breath and began at the beginning, telling her parents everything from their first meeting on the stormy morning last week up until their arrival in triage, leaving out only the more intimate details.

"So, this Time Lord is from another parallel universe that collapsed and his TARDIS brought him here because of you? And he thinks he's a human?" Pete inquired.

"Yeah," replied Rose. Before Jackie or Pete could ask another question, Dr. Sullivan entered the waiting area. Rose jumped up to meet him.

"How is he, Dr. Sullivan?"

"Jason is stable and has been moved to a recovery room. I'll take you back to see him in a moment," Rose's knees buckled and she nearly collapsed to the floor in relief. Pete and Jackie each reached an arm around Rose to offer their support. "He lost a lot of blood and both hearts actually stopped beating during the operation, but thankfully John's notes on Gallifreyan biology indicated that Jason had entered a healing coma. First time in my career to continue operating on someone with no heartbeat. By the time I closed his chest back up, both hearts were beating again, although they are weak from the trauma."

"What's his prognosis, Harry?" asked Pete.

"Based on John's notes and his vitals, I'd say he'll make a full recovery without the need to regenerate, but it's important that he rest for at least a week to give his hearts plenty of time to recover and his chest wound to heal. But, seeing as how we've never treated a full Gallifreyan before, it could be less time. I'd like to keep an eye on him for a few days before I can confirm the rate of his recovery," Dr. Sullivan explained.

"Thank you, Dr. Sullivan," Rose managed to say after overcoming her relief at Jason's status. "Can I see him now?"

"Certainly. I'll take you back there now." Rose followed Dr. Sullivan to the recovery room. She stood at the edge of the curtain wall looking at Jason's form as he lay there with an IV in his arm and an oxygen tube under his nose. Rose noticed the double heartbeat on the monitor over his bed. She hesitated before slowly approaching Jason and taking his hand in hers. The emotions she had been holding back the last few hours finally poured out of her and she clutched his hand to her chest and sobbed. She leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead before whispering, "I love you, Doctor. Please don't leave me. We've only just found each other." She stared at him for a moment more before Dr. Sullivan asked Rose to return to the waiting area while they moved Jason into a private room.

Twenty minutes later, Rose walked into Jason's room with Jackie at her heels.

"Blimey!" Jackie whispered. "It really is him. I never thought I'd be relieved to see that daft face and big ears again."

Rose smiled at her mother's affection for the Time Lord who she had once slapped for bringing Rose home a year late. Except this wasn't that same Time Lord. Rose wondered if this version of the Doctor would love her the way her original Doctor had, once he remembered who he was and how he got here. Would she one day get to tell Jason about his parallel self and their life together? Or better yet, show him through a telepathic bond? Rose yearned to feel that kind of connection again. Her mind had felt so empty since John's death.

Rose shook her head to clear it of the thoughts about the past and future. She needed to focus on the here and now – the man in front of her who needed her love to help him heal and remember his true identity. There was a recliner in the corner of the room and Rose pulled it over to Jason's bedside with Jackie's help.

Rose then took up vigil at Jason's bedside, not leaving his side. Rose was determined to be the first person Jason saw when we woke up. Jackie left eventually but not before giving instructions to Ianto to make sure that Rose ate three times a day. Ianto brought Rose a tray from the cafeteria before leaving for the night.

Later that evening, a nurse came into the room asking for Rose.

"Security at the front desk is looking for you, Commander Tyler. He says there's a man named Jack Harkness at the front desk asking to see you. He says he's a friend of the patient."

Rose smiled, "Yes, he is. Please tell security that I vouch for Jack and he is permitted into the medical wing. Have someone escort him here so that he doesn't get lost."

"Yes, Commander," responded the nurse before leaving the room.

A few minutes later, Rose heard Jack's flirtatious voice coming down the hall. He never could miss an opportunity to flirt with someone. Jack entered the room, "Hi, Rosie! How's the patient?" Jack asked with a soft voice. Rose stood and gave Jack a hug.

"He's stable," Rose explained, "but he hasn't woken up yet. His hearts are weak from the ordeal, but Dr. Sullivan believes he should make a full recovery."

"Hearts?"

"Yep. Time Lords have a binary vascular system."

"Well, that's good, since I thought for sure he was a dead man when that bullet went into his heart."

"Yeah, having a spare heart has its benefits," Rose smiled gently.

Jack stared at Jason for another moment before handing Rose a bag he brought with clothing for Jason.

"Thanks," Rose said. "When he's discharged, I'll probably take him back to my flat for a few days while he recuperates."

"Well, you've got my number if you need anything. I notified the University of Jason's absence. They aren't expecting him back for at least a month."

Just then, Jake came by with her laptop and some files he thought Rose might want to look through while she sat in one place. He also let Rose know that he collected her belongings from the hotel and left them at her flat. Not surprisingly, Jake and Jack left together and Rose realized that they must have planned this rendezvous after meeting at the botanical gardens earlier today. She was happy to see her two friends together; perhaps something good came out of today after all.

Rose settled down in the recliner, alternating between staring out the window at the darkening night sky and watching Jason's chest rise up and down with each gentle breath. No matter what, she never let go of his hand. Eventually, she laid her head down on the mattress next to Jason's hip, her lips pressed against his knuckles. Rose closed her eyes, her intention only to rest them for a few minutes, but her body betrayed her and she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

_I'm baaaack! Here's the next update._

#################

As Rose emerged from sleep, she was disoriented as she felt a gentle touch on the top of her head. She heard her name uttered quietly in a familiar voice. Jason! The fog cleared instantly and she lifted her head quickly and found Jason's bright blue orbs staring her.

"Jason! You're awake!" Rose exclaimed quietly. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a lorry," Jason whispered.

Rose smiled and offered Jason a sip of water from the cup on the bedside table. "What do you remember?"

"I remember waking up with you and getting very dirty in the shower," he replied cheekily, voice still a bit raspy. After taking another sip of water, he continued. "And then you got dressed in your hotel and we went to the gardens for a photo op Jack arranged. And then a crazy mad showed up and tried to shoot you."

"Yeah, and you jumped in front of the bullet," Rose finished.

"Where am I now?" Jason asked, glancing around the room.

"Medical wing of Torchwood in London. I activated Torchwood emergency protocols and we were transmatted directly here from Manchester," Rose explained.

"Trasmat? You mean I was transmatted and missed the whole thing because I was unconscious? Blimey, I would have loved that…very Star Trek," he grinned.

"Yep. But, don't worry. You didn't miss much; always makes me nauseous. That's why we only use it for emergencies."

Jason looked down at his body and reached up to lift the bed linens and hospital gown to inspect his chest. "What's the damage?"

"The bullet punctured your heart and you lost a lot of blood. Dr. Sullivan and his team saved you. You'll be weak for a while until your heart recovers. Looks like you're stuck with me now." Rose grinned at him with her signature tongue-touched smile.

"Stuck with you? That's not so bad." Looking down at his chest again before lowering his arm, Jason said, "Looks like Dr. Sullivan and his team did a bang up job. Hope this gives me a cool scar to go with my bad boy image." Jason laughed lightly.

"Yeah, but don't go getting yourself hurt again. You scared me to death. I thought…" Rose choked on her words "…I thought I was going to lose you." Rose sobbed openly now, unable to hold back her emotions.

"Oh love," Jason pleaded, "come 'ere." Jason opened his arms and scooted over to make room for Rose. She settled into his arms on the small hospital bed and wept into his chest. Jason muttered soothingly to Rose, "It's okay, love. I'm okay. Not going anywhere, me." Jason kissed the top of her head as Rose's sobs began to slow.

They held each other tightly until the both relaxed in each other's arms, falling back asleep in their warm embrace.

A few hours later, Rose was just beginning to stir when she heard the hospital room door open. She immediately recognized her mother's voice, albeit softer than usual.

"Blimey! Poor man takes a bullet in the chest for her and she still can't keep her mitts off of 'im," Jackie commented. Rose was about to scold her mum for talking too loud when she felt the vibration of a chuckle coming from Jason's chest. She glanced up and met his mirthful eyes and small grin.

Rather than scold her mum, Rose greeted her, "Mornin', Mum."

"Mornin', sweetheart. Hope you let this poor man sleep a bit," she said, looking between Rose and Jason.

"Longest kip I've had in a long time, Mrs. Tyler," Jason replied. He then offered Jackie his hand as introduction, "It's nice to meet you."

A faint blush rose on Jackie's cheek as she shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, and please, call me Jackie." Rose imagined Jackie was surprised by such a gentlemanly attitude from the person who looks like the man she once slapped. "And thank you for protecting my Rose. She always manages to find trouble," Jackie explained.

"Yes, she's been jeopardy friendly since the day we met," he said with a wink to Rose who rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're doing better," Jackie said. "I just came to check on you and make sure Rose was taking care of herself."

"I am, Mum. Ianto's been bringing me food just like you asked him to."

"Good. Alright then, loves. I'll leave you alone now." Jackie turned to leave the room and then glanced back over her shoulder. "And Rose, leave the poor man alone for a few days. I don't think his heart is ready for anything too…. strenuous."

"Mum!" Rose nearly shouted as the door shut behind her mother. Rose felt Jason's body vibrate with chuckles again. She climbed out of bed and took a seat in the chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Jason replied. "You are the best nurse I've ever had," he winked at her.

Rose laughed, "Ha! I don't look that good in white tights and trainers."

Rose and Jason spent the remainder of the day keeping each other company, watching telly and chatting with the steady stream of visitors coming to check on them, including Pete, Jake, and even Jack. Dr. Sullivan and the nurse came by a couple of times to check Jason's vitals and change the dressings on his chest. Ianto dutifully brought Rose three meals and tea throughout the day.

As the sun began to set outside the hospital window, Jason suggested that Rose go home and sleep in her own bed. He was starting to feel exhausted from all the attention and figured Rose would want a hot bath and night in a comfy, familiar bed. Rose protested, but eventually Jason convinced her to go. Rose promised to return early the next morning.

Rose made her way back to her flat. As much as she hated to admit it, she was exhausted after sleeping in the uncomfortable chair and sharing a small hospital bed with Jason. She took a hot bath, dozing while she soaked and then put on her pajamas and climbed into bed. Rose fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.


	23. Chapter 23

Rose walked along a field of wildflowers, the tips of her fingers brushing gently across the leaves and petals of the thigh-high flowers as she passed. She wondered silently how she got here, as the last thing she remembered was going to sleep in the guest bed in her London home.

"You're still there," came a familiar voice behind her. Rose turned to see the smiling face of her beloved husband.

"John!" she exclaimed breathlessly. Rose ran to him and embraced him tightly.

"Hello, love," John replied into her hair.

"What happened? How are you here?" Rose asked.

"You're dreaming," John responded matter-of-factly. "I programmed some dream sequences into the young TARDIS and asked her to play these in your mind in the event of certain… um…. events that might unfold in your future."

"So, you're still dead?" Rose asked, trying to hide her devastation.

"I'm sorry, love, but yes, I'm still dead," John answered with a similar expression of sadness and longing. "But, this message isn't about visiting you from the grave at the time of my death. I decided to skip such a macabre message," John explained.

"Thanks for that," Rose teased. "Then, why are you here now?"

"Ah…well…" John rubbed his neck and looked down at his feet before looking back up at Rose. "This particular sequence is for when you find someone new and fall in love again. I'm here to give you my blessing. I love you, Rose Tyler, and I don't want you to be alone. I give you permission to move on with your life and love him with the same intensity as you loved me."

"Love, you mean. I still love you. Not 'loved' past tense. I will always love you."

"Quite right, too," John replied, which quickly earned him a playful slap on the arm from Rose. "Yes," he grinned, "I suppose I deserved that."

"Quite right," Rose replied cheekily.

John offered his arm and Rose linked her arm with his as they continued walking among the wild flowers. After a few moments of quiet, Rose spoke up, "I miss you."

"I know you do. And I'm sorry I left you alone. I had hoped we'd be together until we were old and crotchety."

Rose wasn't sure how to respond, so they simply continued strolling. Eventually, they came to a weeping willow tree and ducked under its foliage to take a seat against its trunk. Rose sat in between John's legs with her back to his chest. John wrapped Rose in a comforting embrace as they watched the tree blow gently in the breeze.

"Tell me about him," John said. "Tell me about the man you love after me."

Rose smiled and chuckled. "You know him. Well, you are him. Or, he is you… Blimey, this is complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"He's the Doctor from another parallel universe."

"What?!" John replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Rose Tyler, you managed to fall in love with a third version of me?"

"Yep," she replied, popping the p the way John always did. "Well, fourth version if you count you, regenerated you, part-human you, and now him." She proceeded to tell John all about their TARDIS sending her to Manchester and meeting Jason, then parallel Jack, and learning his back story from Jason's TARDIS.

"So, let me get this right. Our TARDIS played matchmaker and you're still Rose Tyler, Healer of Time Lords? Blimey, that's brilliant."

"Yep, and I get to shag ol' Big Ears and Leather," Rose grinned.

"Oi! Let's not talk about that; it'll give me a complex," John teased.

Rose turned in John's lap and straddled his thighs, bringing her hands up to cup his face. "I love you. Whether it's big-eared you, pinstripe you, single-heart part-human you. I love you! And he's already proven he loves me. Took a bullet in one of his hearts to protect me."

John smiled, "I'm happy you've found someone to love and who loves you in return. I would never want you to mourn for me for the rest of your life. I said it back with big ears and I'll say it again now, I want you to have a fantastic life, for me."

Rose couldn't help the tears that formed and began to run down her cheeks. John wiped them away before they moved together to join their lips in a kiss. It started out relatively chaste, with Rose sending her deep love and affection through her touch. But soon Rose wanted more. For all she knew, this might be the last time to see and feel her husband. She deepened the kiss, etching into her memory the way his mouth felt under her explorations. As the kiss went on, a warmth began to pool in her core. If this was her last chance, Rose wanted to memorize everything about John.

Wondering if things could go any further, Rose broke the kiss reluctantly and gazed into John's brown eyes. "John, can we make love, one last time?"

"Of course we can," John replied. "It's your dream." John's cheeky grin and waggling eyebrows earned him another playful slap on the arm.

Rose stared into his eyes, memorizing the flecks of color amid the brown orbs. She inventoried the freckles on his face as her fingers traced lightly over his skin. She ran her fingers through his great hair. John moaned predictably as she scratched his scalp. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body as close as possible to his. Then, he flipped them over onto a pile of blankets and pillows that had mysteriously appeared next to the tree. They slowly removed each other's clothes, worshipping every inch of each other's skin as it was revealed. Rose balanced precariously between wanting to satiate her desires but also prolong this moment for as long as possible. John positioned himself over her body, running his fingers teasingly along her slit before brushing gently over her clit. Rose closed her eyes for a moment, too caught up in the feel of his touch, before opening her eyes again so as not to miss a moment of this time together.

"John," Rose said breathlessly. "I need you."

Without another word spoken, John entered her slowly, languidly. Rose and John had always fit perfectly together, like they were made for each other. He continued to move in and out of her slowly, gently, hitting all the right spots with each thrust. Rose ran her hands over every inch of John's body that she could reach, memorizing the rippling of his muscles under her touch with each thrust, kneading his back and shoulders, grabbing his bum to pull him impossibly closer. John's pace began to increase with Rose's building pressure to climax. They shared passionate kisses. John's lips traced her jaw and neck until he reached her breasts and began sucking on the nipples before returning up the path they had just traveled back to her mouth. John's pace increased again and just as Rose felt her orgasm nearing, John's rhythm faltered. Three more thrusts and they were climaxing together, sweat-covered bodies collapsing together with limbs entangled. Rose couldn't be sure where she ended and John began.

They lay together for a while, just listening to the sounds around them and the beating of their human hearts. "I wish I didn't have to wake up from this dream," Rose admitted.

"I know, my love," John replied wistfully. "But you've got a Time Lord to rescue. He needs you, just as I needed you all those years ago."

"Will you ever visit me in my dreams again?"

"Maybe not in your dreams, but I've always liked how you humans believe that the ones we love never truly leave us. I want to believe that is true and if so, I'll never leave. I'll always be in here," John tapped his finger on Rose's temple, "and here," John rested his hand over Rose's heart. He reached over to give her another soft, loving kiss. Rose closed her eyes and focused on sending all her love and devotion to John. When she opened her eyes again, she was in the bedroom with the early morning light casting a soft glow on the room.


	24. Chapter 24

Rose lingered in bed, trying to preserve her dream in her memories. It was such a John thing to do to program dream sequences into the TARDIS. The future had become less predictable with his dulled time senses, so he had always wanted to be prepared for anything.

Eventually, Rose sighed heavily and reluctantly got out of bed. After she was dressed and with her cuppa in hand, she wandered around the flat, removing any photos of the Doctor in leather. If Jason was coming home with her to finish his recuperation, she didn't want to risk him finding the photos.

After she was sure she had collected all the photos, she carried the armload down to the basement, along with the heart of Jason's TARDIS. No better place to hide things than inside the TARDIS, she mused.

The TARDIS hummed a happy welcome to Rose as she approached and walked through the doors. "Hello, gorgeous," Rose greeted. She set the pile of photos down on the jump seat. "Thanks for the tip on Manchester. Want to hear about my trip?"

The TARDIS let out a sound like tinkling chimes and Rose smiled. She placed her hand on the console and sent her memories of the week in Manchester to the ship. The lights dimmed when her story reached the scene at the botanical gardens. Rose ended the replay there and stroked the ship reassuredly. "Don't worry. Jason will be fine. He's recovering and will likely come back here to finish healing." The lights flickered happily. "But remember, we can't go messing with his head until he remembers who he is. As long as he thinks he's a human named Jason Tempest, we have to leave him alone, got it?"

The TARDIS hummed her agreement, albeit with some disappointment.

"I'll do the best I can to help him remember who he is, don't you worry, yeah? I want the Time Lord around just as much as you do." The TARDIS grumbled. "Okay, maybe more than you do," Rose smiled.

Rose picked up the pile of photographs and headed down the corridor, leaving the TARDIS heart on the console. She found her way into the library and placed the photos on an empty shelf in a dark corner. She paused to stare at them one more time before checking her watch and heading out the TARDIS and out of her flat to go see Jason.

Rose could hear Jason's booming voice as soon as she stepped off the lift. It sounded like he was giving someone a hard time. When she entered his room, there was a nurse at his bedside trying to convince Jason to lay down and relax. Neither person had noticed Rose's entry into the room.

"Dr. Tempest, I understand that you want to get up and move around, but you can't go wandering around Torchwood without authorization and an escort," the nurse attempted to explain.

"I don't need an escort; I'm not going to do anythin'."

"It's okay, Joan," Rose spoke up, startling the young nurse and causing Jason to grin widely. "I'll escort Jason around."

Joan nodded in agreement and brought a wheelchair into the room.

"Rose," Jason whined, "I don't need to be pushed around in a wheelchair. I'm not that bad off."

"Just humor them, yeah?" Rose pleaded. "Once we get out of the lift on another floor, then you can get out of the chair and have a walk around. Okay?"

"Fine," Jason agreed begrudgingly.

Jason got out of bed and walked over to the chair, not noticing that his hospital gown was open at the back, giving Rose an unobstructed view of his gorgeous bum. Rose couldn't stifle her giggle fast enough.

"Oi! What's so funny?" Jason asked.

"Well, if you're planning on walking around, might want to at least put on some pants unless you want all of Torchwood admiring that delicious bum."

Jason's ears turned pink, "well, can't have that, can we? Only one Torchwood employee I want ogling my bum."

"Who would that be? Dr. Sullivan?" Rose teased.

"Cheeky minx," Jason replied, as he got out of the chair and dug around the bag Jack had left with some of his clothes. Jason put on pants and a pair of pajama bottoms before getting back into the chair.

Rose and Jason took the lift to the floor with Rose's office on it. As soon as the lift doors closed behind them, Jason grabbed the wheels to stop Rose from pushing the chair any further. He stood up to his full height, stretching his body as if he was a bear emerging from hibernation. Rose parked the chair off to the side and took Jason's hand, leading him down the hall to the offices. Jake was just coming down the hall when he saw the couple approach.

"Well, look who's up and about," Jake said, grinning. "Glad to see you're recovering." Jake held out a hand for Jason to shake.

"Takes more than a bullet to keep me down," Jason smiled.

"Jason was getting a bit restless downstairs, so I offered to take him on a little tour of Torchwood," Rose explained.

"Great idea! Although, stay out of the cafeteria today. It's fishy Friday."

"Fishy Friday? Do they serve fish today?" Jason asked.

"Nobody knows what it is they're serving – that's why it's fishy," Jake laughed.

Rose just shook her head at the pun. "Don't worry, Jason. I can go out and pick us up something later."

Rose and Jason agreed to visit Jake again later, next time Jason needed to escape the medical wing. They stopped at her office briefly before heading back to the lifts. Rose made sure to bring the wheelchair along, mostly in case they ran into any of the medical staff, not because Jason needed it.

They headed to Pete's office next. Ianto made them both a cup of coffee while they visited with Pete. Pete was pleased to see Jason doing so well and thanked him profusely for protecting Rose from Max's bullet. He made Jason promise to come to the mansion for dinner when he was feeling up to it.

After a few more floors, Jason began to feel a bit weak, so Rose ushered him back to his hospital room. He went reluctantly, only after Rose offered to get him a banana milkshake from the diner down the street. After he was settled in his bed, Rose headed to the diner to pick up lunch for them both and an extra-large banana milkshake. They enjoyed their food and chatted about other areas of Torchwood they could explore later. They turned on the telly and snuggled together in the hospital bed to watch an old sci-fi movie. Jason fell asleep not longer after the princess was captured by the evil empire. Rose snuggled closer to Jason, enjoying the rhythmic sounds of his double hearts and calm breathing while she watched the remainder of the movie.

After his nap, Rose took Jason on an abbreviated tour of the labs and guest suites for visiting aliens. Jason had wanted to explore the labs more, but was still a bit tired from the morning tour and stayed obediently in the wheelchair. For dinner, Rose ordered pizza, with enough extra for the night guards at the front desk. Jason tried to convince Rose to go home and sleep again, but she refused, saying that she'd slept long enough the night before and she wanted to stay with Jason and keep him from wandering off. Jason feigned offense at her accusation that he might wander off.


	25. Chapter 25

_Probably only one more chapter after this one. Still tweaking the ending._

############

Rose and Jason slept snuggled next to each other in the narrow hospital bed. Dr. Sullivan came in early the next morning with discharge papers and instructions in hand. It's a good thing too because Rose knew he was going barmy staying there and his unique physiology was helping him heal quickly. By 8am, Rose was wheeling Jason out to her car.

As Rose settled into the driver's seat, she turned to Jason and asked, "Where do you want to go now? We can go back to my flat or we could stop somewhere for breakfast."

Jason's stomach, rather than his mouth, responded with a loud growl. Rose giggled, "Breakfast it is, then."

Rose and Jason enjoyed a full fry up at a quaint family-owned place between Torchwood and Rose's home.

After eating their fill, they headed to Rose's place. Jason glanced around the flat, noticing an absence of photographs, aside from ones that included her mum, dad, and brother, Tony. Rose took their stuff to the bedroom before returning to the living area to see Jason browsing the collection of books on the shelf.

"Advanced astrophysics, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe… quite the eclectic taste in reading material," Jason commented.

"Yeah," Rose replied a bit sheepishly. "Some of those were John's books." James nodded but didn't continue with this subject. "So, what do you want to do now? We could watch a film…"

"Only if we get to snuggle up on something more comfortable than a hospital bed," Jason answered.

"Will the sofa do?"

"Oh yes"

Rose and Jason settled under a blanket on the sofa to watch an action movie about stealing cars. "I love this movie," Jason said as the bad guy appeared on the screen. "That Raymond Calitri is so intense."

Rose rolled her eyes but burrowed into Jason a little further. She couldn't care less about the movie and was just relieved to have Jason safe with her. As the credits rolled, Jason stretched his arms above his head and sniffed. "Damn it, Rose. Why didn't you tell me I needed to bathe?! I stink."

"Maybe I wanted to snuggle rather than send you off to shower," Rose smiled with the tongue in her teeth.

"We could always snuggle in the shower," Jason pulled Rose closer and nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"Could do," Rose replied. "But, I really need to go get some groceries." Jason gave Rose a look of disappointment. "Don't fret. Go take a shower and I'll be back before you know it."

Jason and Rose stood up, gave each other one last lingering kiss before heading in opposite directions – Jason toward the bedroom and ensuite and Rose out the front door.

Rose ran to the store and picked up some essentials and meal ingredients as quickly as she could, luckily avoiding attracting any unwanted attention from photographers and fans. When she walked in the door of the flat, she called out for Jason. She listened for a reply or for any sign that the shower might still be running, but all she heard was silence. She put the groceries down in the kitchen and called out again. When Jason still didn't respond, Rose decided to go check on him.

As Rose walked down the hallway, she felt the TARDIS in her head, a sense of urgency in its hum. She walked down the hallway and saw the basement door open. Without hesitating, Rose ran down the stairs and gasped at the sight before her. The TARDIS door was open and Jason was collapsed on the ground in front of it. Rose fell to her knees next to Jason, feeling for a pulse. He was breathing and his hearts seemed to be working. She needed to get him up and out of the basement before he woke up, but she knew she wouldn't be able to lift him alone. Rose pulled her mobile out of her pocket and dialed Jack.

"Hello, Rosie!" Jack greeted on the other end.

"Jack! I need your help with Jason. Can you come over to my place?"

"Yeah, Rosie. Be there in a tick."

Within a few seconds, the atmosphere around Rose shifted and the familiar thwump of the vortex manipulator echoed through the flat.

"We're in the basement, Jack!" Rose called out.

Jack hurried down the stairs and rushed to Rose's side.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. I left Jason to shower while I went to the store and when I came back, this is where I found him. Help me carry him upstairs to the bedroom, yeah?"

"Sure thing, Rosie."

Once they settled Jason onto the bed and Rose was sure he was okay, Rose and Jack returned to the living room.

"What do you think happened while you were gone?" Jack wondered.

"I don't know. Something must have made him want to go into the basement. Maybe seeing the TARDIS caused his memories to leak through and overwhelm him? That's my only theory. John described a similar situation that happened years ago when he had to change his biology to hide out from a dangerous enemy. He lived as a human for nearly three months with false memories of a human life he hadn't lived."

Rose and Jack sat in silence for a bit before Rose offered to make them some tea while they waited for Jason to wake up. As they sipped their tea, Jack broke the silence, "So, what are you going to do about him now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You remember what the TARDIS said," Jack recalled. "How are you going to prove your love for Jason? I mean, you do love him, right?"

"Of course I love him. I realized a long time ago that I was made to love him. No matter what universe or what body, I have always and will always love the Doctor." Rose opened her mouth to continue when a commotion behind them got their attention. Rose and Jack jumped off the sofa to see Jason collapsed on his knees, clutching his hands to his temples.

"Jason!" the two yelled simultaneously. Rose ran to his side and Jack vaulted over the sofa to meet them.

"Jason, love, what's wrong?" Rose pleaded.

"Rose… did you mean what you said earlier?" Jason asked.

"Which part?" Rose wondered how much of her conversation with Jack that Jason had heard.

"When you said you love me," Jason finally managed to get it. "Do…do you mean that?"

Rose reached out to cup Jason's cheek and looked deep into his eyes with as much sincerity as she could. "Yes. I love you." Rose replied. "I told you before, I don't care what you've done in your past to make you think that you are not worthy of being loved."

Rose took a deep breath and continued. "Years ago when I first met my husband, we tried to deny the feeling that existed between us. John told me to forget him. But the universe kept bringing us back together. I knew from the moment I met him that we were meant to be together. We wasted many years trying to ignore the universe and our love for each other. I learned my lesson then. When you love someone, and I know that I love you, don't fear it and don't deny it. Embrace it. So yes, Jason, I love you. Maybe it's fate. Maybe the universe is giving us both another chance at happiness. Maybe we're both crazy. I don't know. But I do know that I was meant to find you at just this moment in time. And I'm not wasting another minute second guessing how I feel." Rose felt a pull inside her that she couldn't resist even if she had tried. She leaned her head forward to brush her lips against Jason's ear and whispered, in perfect Gallifreyan "My love, my hearts," ending with his given name.

Rose leaned back to see Jason's eyes twinkle and a smile grew on his face. He reached out to caress Rose's cheek and then closed the distance between them. He kissed her softly yet passionately. As they kissed, Jack tried to get their attention.

"Um… I hate to break this up, but… um… guys?" Jack said, with increasing concern. "Um… Jason is glowing…"

Rose's eyes flashed open and she quickly backed away from Jason as his skin began to glow golden with regeneration energy. Jason glanced at his hands and then nervously at Rose. "Stay back!" they both yelled at Jack.

"Don't you dare regenerate on me!" Rose told him sternly. Jason stood unsteadily from the floor and stretched his limbs out in the familiar pose of regeneration that had haunted Rose's dreams all those years ago. But just as the light around Jason was growing to an intolerable brightness, it faded to nothing. Jason collapsed to the ground, still conscious but clearly very weak.

"Jason!" Rose ran to his side quickly. "Jack, come help me get him to the sofa while I go make him some tea." Jack picked up Jason off the floor.

"You know…this is the second time today I've held you in my arms," Jack flirted as he carried Jason to the sofa and set him down.

"And you didn't even buy me a drink first," Jason replied.

Rose returned a few minutes later with a cup of tea. She handed it to Jason, eyeing him suspiciously for any signs of changes between semi-human and Time Lord. Jason sipped his tea, sighing contentedly

"A super-heated cup of free radicals and tannins. Just what _the Doctor_ ordered," Jason winked knowingly at Rose.

"Doctor?" Rose asked tentatively.

"Hello," Jason replied, wiggling his fingers at Rose.


	26. Chapter 26

_"Doctor?" Rose asked tentatively._

 _"Hello," Jason replied, wiggling his fingers at Rose._

"You remember?" Rose asked.

"Yes, Rose, I remember. Everything," he smiled gently.

Rose couldn't help herself. She rushed to the Doctor and threw her arms around him. She nuzzled her face into his chest, trying to stop the tears that we streaming down her face. She hoped that recovering his memories didn't mean that he no longer loved her. As if sensing Rose's concerns, he cupped her cheeks and tilted her head up to look at him.

"I love you, Rose Tyler. Nothing will ever change that," the Doctor comforted.

"I love you too, Doctor. I'll love you for my forever," Rose replied.

As they embraced, he asked, "Now then. Would you mind explaining to me why you have a Type 40 TT Capsule in your basement?"

Rose pulled back to smile at the Doctor. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, and Jack's already heard it." Rose reached for the Doctor's hands and moved them up to her temples. "But, I can show it to you instead." She offered with a knowing smile.

The Doctor gasped at what Rose was implying. "Are you sure?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Always," Rose replied.

The Doctor rested his fingers on her temples and Rose welcomed him immediately into her mind. She wasted no time in showing him her history with her first Doctor all the way through to meeting Jason in Manchester. When he finally receded from Rose's mind, the Doctor said "Blimey! I'm not sure I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Your Doctor was a much braver man than me."

"I don't know," Rose responded with a twinkle in her eye. "He always said he was a coward before the metacrisis. That little bit of human gave him the courage to finally stop running from his feelings. Plus, he never took a bullet for me."

"Yes, well, thank goodness for binary vascular systems," the Doctor winked at her. "So, that TARDIS is yours then? It appears that I am in the market for a new one."

"That's good news because I'm hiring a pilot."

"Fantastic!"

Somewhere behind them, Jack cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose if I'm not needed here anymore…" He made to move to the door to leave but the Doctor stopped him.

"Jack, wait." The Doctor walked over to Jack and embraced him. "Thank you for taking care of me all these years. I'm sorry my ship pulled you from your time to do it, but I'm glad she did. You are a great friend to me."

"To both of us," Rose added as she approached and hugged Jack in turn. "Please don't go. Come travel with us."

"Hmmm…" Jack pretended to think about it. "Only if you promise to take me the pleasure spa on Tiful's third moon? I've heard their cocktail hour is… inspiring." Jack winked.

"Anywhere in time and space," Rose replied. "As long as our pilot can get us there…"

"Oi!" the Doctor replied, "I can fly a TARDIS!"

"I know you can fly it, Doctor. The question is, can you land it?" Rose gave him a cheeky grin.

"I'll show you, Rose Tyler!" and he ran down the basement steps into the TARDIS with Jack and Rose at his heels.

Just as they entered the TARDIS, the hologram image of Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, appeared before them.

"Susan?" the Doctor asked.

"Hello, my pilot," the TARDIS replied. The Doctor opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to speak whatever thoughts were swirling in his head. Susan grinned at him. "It's a rare moment when someone can stop that runaway gob of yours."

"What is this about?" the Doctor asked skeptically.

"Your TARDIS, my sister, embedded a message in her heart, which my Wolf dutifully brought back with her at your ship's request," the image explained. "She asked me to show this message to you when you recovered your memories. She loved you and wanted to see you happy. All she did up to the very end she did for love of you. And now, please place her heart inside of mine." Susan gestured to the console where Rose had left the heart. Rose approached the console, picked up the crystal and inserted into the slot that appeared in the middle of the levers and buttons.

"Her final act of love is to give to you the one thing you both deserve – another chance at forever with someone at your side. Her dying wish was for her pilot to be happy and loved for his forever," the Susan projection explained. "You're always rubbish on your own. But if my Wolf will consent, your TARDIS wanted Rose to have her remaining life so that Rose can fulfill her promise of forever."

The Doctor's mouth fell open as he realized what his dying TARDIS had given him. He moved to Rose and took her hands.

"Rose. My beautiful Rose," the Doctor lifted both hands to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. "My TARDIS used the last of her life to offer you a gift. There is enough energy left in her heart to modify your biology. It will extend your lifespan to match the lives that I have left."

"You mean…I can live as long as you? And travel the stars and experience the wonders of the universe together? For _your_ forever?" Rose asked.

"For _our_ forever," the Doctor answered.

Rose looked around the room at Jack, Susan, the time rotor, and back to the Doctor. All she had ever wanted since she met the Doctor all those years ago was to spend the rest of her life with him. Even when his human life was cut short, she hadn't felt a moment of regret in their life together. Rose was overwhelmed at the prospect of another chance to be happy and to live with the Doctor again, this time without her short human lifespan always hanging over their heads.

"Forever, then," Rose replied. "That's all I've ever wanted. I love you, my Doctor."

"I love you, my Rose."

"My Wolf, please stand in front of the console," Susan explained. "My pilot and my captain, please come stand beside me." Everyone moved as the TARDIS instructed and then she continued. "My wolf, you remember what it was like to look into the time vortex. This will feel similar, although it will not be without some discomfort." She turned to the men by her side. "Do not interfere until the process is complete."

With a nod from Rose to Susan, the console opened slowly as the vortex energy snaked out and swirled around Rose. Rose felt the burning of her body, down to the cellular level. The burning felt like it might consume her, but for Jack and the Doctor's sakes, Rose kept her mouth closed in an effort to stifle her screams of pain. As the burning receded, Rose's senses awoke – she saw colors she's never seen with her human eyes, heard the musical undertones of the TARDIS's hum, and tasted the chemical makeup of the air she breathed into her lungs. She glanced at Jack and the Doctor and gasped at the beauty of their timelines swirling above them. She smiled, waved her hand and said, "Hello."

The Doctor approached slowly, as if approaching a priceless piece of art balanced precariously on a shelf. Rose rushed into his embrace, studying the complexities of his scent – leather, tea, and time were now mixed with hormones and pheromones. She pulled back and the Doctor rested his hands over her hearts, smiling enthusiastically when he felt the double thump under his palms.

"My love, my hearts," the Doctor said in Gallifreyan.

"My love, my hearts," Rose repeated back. The Doctor's eyes glistened at the sound of his native tongue on another's lips. Rose then leaned forward and whispered the Doctor's given name into his ear for the second time that day. He kissed her passionately.

After a few minutes, Jack asked "Is there room for a third?"

"Jack…" the Doctor warned and Rose giggled.

"We can continue this later, Doctor," Rose explained. "I believe we promised Jack a trip. But if he doesn't mind, I'd like to say goodbye to Mum, Pete, and Tony, yeah?"

"But Rooose…" the Doctor whined. "What's the point of having a time traveling ship if we have to say goodbye when we leave?"

"Doctor, you brought me back twelve months late one time, so unless you want a Tyler slap from Mum, you better take me to tell her goodbye."

"Technically, that wasn't even me!" the Doctor complained.

"True," Rose replied, "but Mum prefers to slap first and ask questions later."

"Alright…" the Doctor agreed. "First stop, Tyler mansion, say, 6:30 tonight."

The flight to the Tyler mansion was surprisingly smooth and the Doctor made sure to point this out to his two companions. Before he could gloat too much, a loud banging on the TARDIS door interrupted him.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing, landin' in the middle of my kitchen!" Jackie's voice could be heard on the other side of the door. "I'm in the middle of making dinner!"

Rose couldn't help the giggle that bubbled out of her mouth. "Well…. At least you got here at the right time."

Rose, Jack and the Doctor walked out the doors of the TARDIS to find Jackie with one hand on her hip and the other wielding a wooden spoon.

"I see you're driving's not much better," Jackie smirked at the Doctor, who rolled his eyes at her in response. The sound of trainers skidding along the wood floor rang through the kitchen as Tony ran in with his mouth gaping at the sight of the TARDIS.

"It works! When did you learn to pilot it, sis?" Tony approached the ship in awe.

"I didn't. The Doctor flew us here," Rose replied, gesturing to the Doctor. "Tony, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is my little brother, Tony."

"Hello, Tony," the Doctor grinned at him. "Fancy a little trip in the TARDIS?"

"Oi! Absolutely not!" Jackie replied before Tony could open his mouth. "There will be no TARDIS-flying for you until you're at least 18. I'll not have an alien kidnap both my children!"

Before anyone could argue, the sound of the front door closing and Pete's voice echoed through the mansion "Hello?"

"In here, Dad," Rose replied. Pete walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight before him – his wife clearly annoyed by something the Doctor had done, his daughter grinning bigger than he'd seen in years, and the sparkle of something purely alien in the Doctor's eyes, much like what he'd seen in the eyes of the first, and second, versions of the Doctor the he had known.

"I see Rose has helped you recover your memories?" Pete asked the Doctor.

"That she has," the Doctor replied. "And I'm eternally grateful to her for everything. And to you too, Pete. That's a fine medical staff you've got at Torchwood."

"I can't agree more," Pete replied. "I assume this means that you're off traveling together now?" The Doctor nodded but Jackie interrupted.

"Not yet, you aren't," she exclaimed. "You'll stay for dinner." The Doctor was about the decline the offer, but Jackie added "We're having banana cream pie for pudding."

"Well, I suppose we could delay our departure a couple of hours. Wouldn't want to miss banana cream pie. Bananas are good," the Doctor agreed.

While Jackie finished fixing dinner, the Doctor and Jack moved the TARDIS to the garden and returned to find Rose in Pete's home office on the computer. Rose clicked a few final buttons and then stood up from the desk.

"There you go, Dad. I've submitted my resignation officially," Rose explained.

"I'm sorry to see you leave, but I hope you'll consider my proposal to remain on contract as a consultant," Pete replied. "And that goes for you too, Doctor and Jack. Your expertise could be invaluable to us, particularly in a crisis."

Jack and the Doctor glanced at each other and then back at Pete. "I think I speak for both the Doctor and myself when I say that we've both become a bit attached to 21st century Earth. We'll do whatever we can to help when and where we are needed."

The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Plus, I'd like to keep teaching for a bit. At least finish out the year with my current students. Grown attached to those little apes, me."

"Good," Pete reached out to shake their hands. "Please consider yourselves family. You are always welcome here."

After dinner, Jackie said a tearful goodbye to Rose as they prepared to leave, despite Rose's reassurances that they would return regularly for visits. Pete wrapped his arms around his wife to comfort her. Tony was disappointed that he couldn't go too, but Rose offered to bring him back as many souvenirs as she could.

Rose couldn't contain her excitement as they entered the TARDIS and the Doctor moved to send the ship into the Vortex. Rose decided not to tell her mum about her extended lifespan. Figured she'd save it for a future visit after she'd had time to prepare for her mum's reaction.

After dropping a bouncing Jack off at his pleasure planet of choice with promises to return in a week, the Doctor sent the ship back into the vortex and turned to Rose.

"Well, where do you want to go now? We've got a whole new universe to discover. Do you think the dogs in Barcelona have noses in this universe? Maybe New New York? Does it have apple-grass? Or maybe pear-grass… ew… no… maybe not…" The Doctor rambled off a few more ideas before Rose stopped him with a hard kiss.

"Doctor," she said when she pulled away. "How about we stay in the vortex for a bit, yeah? We can explore the TARDIS..."

The Doctor looked at Rose, a hint of disappointment in his features. "Alright, Rose," he agreed. "Where should we start?"

"How about the bedroom?" Rose suggested with a flirtatious grin.

Realization hit the Doctor as he processed her reply. His grin grew from ear to ear and a hint of pink colored his ears.

"Fantastic!"


End file.
